Pin-type chip tooling

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for use with multiple chips having multiple posts as to engage at least a portion of a surface of one of the multiple chips, a frame configured to releasably constrain each of the posts so that, when unconstrained, each individual post can contact an individual chip and, when constrained, will allow a uniform vertical force to be applied to the chips.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/329,883, filed Jan. 10, 2006, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/690,759, filed Jun. 14, 2005, bothof which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

Making electrical contacts that extend all the way through an electronicchip (by creating electrically conductive vias) is difficult. Doing sowith precision or controlled repeatability, let alone in volume isnearly impossible unless one or more of the following is the case: a)the vias are very shallow, i.e. significantly less than 100 microns indepth, b) the via width is large, or c) the vias are separated by largedistances, i.e. many times the via width. The difficulty is compoundedwhen the vias are close enough for signal cross-talk to occur, or if thechip through which the via passes has a charge, because the conductor inthe via can not be allowed act as a short, nor can it carry a chargedifferent from the charge of the pertinent portion of the chip. Inaddition, conventional processes, to the extent they exist, areunsuitable for use with formed integrated circuit (IC) chips (i.e.containing active semiconductor devices) and increase cost because thoseprocesses can damage the chips and thereby reduce the ultimate yield.Adding further to the above difficulties is the need to be concernedwith capacitance and resistance problems when the material the viapasses through has a charge or when the frequencies of the signals to becarried through the vias are very high, for example, in excess of about0.3 GHz.

Indeed, there are numerous problems that are extant in the semiconductorart including: use of large, non-scaleable packaging; assembly costsdon't scale like semiconductors; chip cost is proportional to area, andthe highest performance processes are the most expensive, but onlyfraction of chip area actually requires high-performance processes;current processes are limited in voltage and other technologies; chipdesigners are limited to one process and one material for design; large,high power pad drivers are needed for chip-to-chip (through package)connections; even small changes or correction of trivial design errorsrequire fabrication of one or more new masks for a whole new chip;making whole new chips requires millions of dollars in mask costs alone;individual chips are difficult and complicated to test and combinationsof chips are even more difficult to test prior to complete packaging.

Accordingly, there is a significant need in the art for technology thatcan address one or more of the above problems.

SUMMARY

We have developed a process that facilitates forming chip to chipelectrical connections with vias that pass through a wafer, a preformedthird-party chip, or a doped semiconductor substrate. Aspects describedherein aid in the approach and represent improvements in the generalfield of joining of chips to each other.

One aspect involves an apparatus for use with multiple chips havingmultiple posts as to engage at least a portion of a surface of one ofthe multiple chips, a frame configured to releasably constrain each ofthe posts so that, when unconstrained, each individual post can contactan individual chip and, when constrained, will allow a uniform verticalforce to be applied to the chips.

Another aspect involves each of the posts individually engage one of themultiple chips such that no two of the posts engage a chip in common.

Yet another aspect involves each of the individually constrained postshas an end opposite the face and wherein these ends are configured toreceive the applied force and to transmit the applied force to therespective individual chips.

Another aspect involves the frame configured to receive the appliedforce and wherein the constrained posts will transfer the applied forcefrom the frame to the multiple chips.

Yet another aspect involves at least one of the posts configured toallow for application of a vacuum to its respective individual chip.

Another aspect involves a set of individual posts defines a group, andthe group is configured to collectively engage a surface of one of themultiple chips.

The advantages and features described herein are a few of the manyadvantages and features available from representative embodiments andare presented only to assist in understanding the invention. It shouldbe understood that they are not to be considered limitations on theinvention as defined by the claims, or limitations on equivalents to theclaims. For instance, some of these advantages are mutuallycontradictory, in that they cannot be simultaneously present in a singleembodiment. Similarly, some advantages are applicable to one aspect ofthe invention, and inapplicable to others. Thus, this summary offeatures and advantages should not be considered dispositive indetermining equivalence. Additional features and advantages of theinvention will become apparent in the following description, from thedrawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified representation a side view of a portion of a chipcontaining multiple active electronic devices;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the upper surface of the specified area of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the upper surface of the specified area of FIG.1 following creation of the trench shown in side view in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 1 as aresult of continued processing;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the upper surface of the specified area of FIG.1 following the filling of the trench with electrically insulatingmaterial shown in side view in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 1 as aresult of continued processing;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the upper surface of the specified area 124 ofFIG. 1 following the creation of the via trench;

FIG. 9 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 1 as aresult of continued processing;

FIG. 10 is a top view of the upper surface of the specified area of FIG.1 following metalization of the via trench;

FIG. 11 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 1 as aresult of continued optional processing;

FIG. 12 is a top view of the upper surface of the specified area of FIG.1 following the optional introduction of the bonding substance into theremaining void;

FIG. 13 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 1 as aresult of other optional processing;

FIG. 14 is a top view of the upper surface of the specified area of FIG.1 following the optional addition of the finishing substance into theremaining void;

FIG. 15 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 1 as aresult of continued processing;

FIG. 16 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 1following thinning of the substrate to remove the bottom metallization;

FIG. 17 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 5 as aresult of processing of an alternative variant;

FIG. 18 is a top view of a section taken below the specified area ofFIG. 1 following the creation of the via trench;

FIG. 19 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 5 as aresult of further processing in the manner described in connection withFIG. 9;

FIG. 20 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 5 as aresult of further optional processing in the manner described inconnection with FIG. 11;

FIG. 21 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 5 as aresult of further optional processing in the manner described inconnection with FIG. 13;

FIG. 22 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 5 as aresult of thinning the substrate to expose the bottom metalization inthe manner described in connection with FIG. 15 in the alternativevariant of FIG. 17;

FIG. 23 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion of FIG. 5 as aresult of thinning the substrate to remove the bottom metalization inthe manner described in connection with FIG. 16 for the alternativevariant of FIG. 17;

FIG. 24 illustrates in simplified form a dual conductor variantfollowing metallization of the sidewalls;

FIG. 25 illustrates in simplified form the dual conductor variantfollowing filling the trench with electrically insulating material 500;

FIG. 26 illustrates in simplified form, a via trench created by removingthe entire island of semiconductor material;

FIG. 27 illustrates in simplified form, a via trench created by removingonly an inner portion island of semiconductor material;

FIGS. 28A and 28B illustrate in simplified form one exampledual-conductor variant;

FIGS. 29A and 29B illustrate in simplified form another exampledual-conductor variant;

FIGS. 30A and 30B respectively illustrate use of an optional additionalthermally created dielectric or insulator in the approaches of FIGS. 28and 29;

FIG. 31 illustrates in simplified form one example three-conductorvariant;

FIG. 32 shows a simplified cutaway view of a portion of an examplealternative chip implementation similar to the implementation of FIG. 9through FIG. 16 except the void remaining after metalization is notfilled;

FIG. 33 shows a simplified cutaway view of a portion of an examplealternative chip implementation, similar to that of FIG. 23 except thevoid remaining after metalization is not filled;

FIG. 34 and FIG. 35 each show the respective cross sections of the chipsof FIG. 32 and FIG. 33 following hybridization to each other;

FIG. 36 shows the implementation of FIG. 34 after optional coating withan insulator or conformal coating;

FIG. 37 shows representative examples of cross sections of annulustrenches;

FIG. 38 illustrates in simplified form, a generic overview form aprocess for preparing a wafer for stacking;

FIGS. 39 through 41 illustrate portions of example chips processed tocreate through-chip connections using different variants of theherein-described processes that have, thereafter, been stacked togetherto form a chip unit;

FIG. 42 illustrates in simplified form the process for making a back tofront variant;

FIG. 43 illustrates in simplified form the process for making acapacitive coupling variant;

FIG. 44 illustrates in simplified form the process for making apre-connect variant;

FIGS. 45 and 46 illustrate in simplified form, example tack and fuseparameters;

FIG. 47 is a simplified example involving “minimal” contacts;

FIG. 48 is a simplified example involving an extended contact;

FIG. 49 illustrates a portion of a stack of semiconductor chips eachhaving through-chip connections as described herein;

FIG. 50 illustrates a portion of the simplified stack of the chips shownin FIG. 49 stacked using a the post and penetration connection approach;

FIG. 51 illustrates in simplified form a void within the metalizationfilled by a pre-formed post;

FIG. 52 illustrates, in simplified form, the chip of FIG. 51 after ithas been hybridized to an electronic chip;

FIG. 53 through FIG. 71 illustrate a simplified example variant of abasic contact formation and hybridization approach;

FIG. 72 through FIG. 87 illustrate an alternative simplified examplevariant of a basic contact formation and hybridization approach;

FIG. 88 through FIG. 91 illustrate, in simplified parallel form, a firstpart of two further example variant approaches for forming what willlater become a rigid post on the back side of a daughter wafer;

FIG. 92 is a cross sectional photograph of example sloping vias;

FIG. 93 is a photograph of an example via having a depth of 100 micronsand a diameter of 20 microns;

FIG. 94 is a photograph, in cross section, of a chip having pointed viasformed therein;

FIG. 95 through FIG. 102 illustrate, in simplified parallel form, asecond part of the two further example variant from FIGS. 88 through 91;

FIG. 103 through FIG. 125 illustrate, in simplified parallel form, avariant process of preparing wafers for hybridization to other elements;

FIG. 126 through FIG. 139 illustrate in abbreviated form, a furthervariant process of preparing wafers for hybridization to other elements;

FIG. 140 which illustrates, in simplified form, a daughter wafer contactand a mother wafer contact immediately prior to the tack phase;

FIG. 141 shows, in simplified form, the contacts of FIG. 140 after thefuse process is complete;

FIG. 142 illustrates a profiled malleable contact;

FIGS. 143A through 143Y are representative, illustrative examples ofsome of the myriad of possible mother contact profiles;

FIG. 144 is a photograph of an alternative example profiled malleablecontact;

FIG. 145 is a photograph of a profiled rigid contact designed topenetrate the malleable contact of FIG. 144;

FIG. 146 illustrates, in simplified form, a further profiled contactexample;

FIGS. 147 through 152 illustrate one variant process for implementingthe well attach concept;

FIGS. 153 through 156 illustrate, in simplified form, classes of reversewell variants;

FIGS. 157A and 157B are, respectively, photographs in longitudinal crosssection of a set of 15 micron diameter vias extending 135 microns deepand 25 micron diameter vias extending 155 microns deep;

FIG. 158, is a photograph of a via similar to those of FIGS. 157A and157B but not filled all of the way to the bottom;

FIGS. 159 through 167 illustrate a further variant of a Class II-typerigid well attach approach;

FIG. 168 through FIG. 170 show a further variant of the well attachapproach in which the chips are attached to one another by separateremote contacts;

FIGS. 171A and 171B illustrate top views of alternative remote contactvariants;

FIG. 172 illustrates cross sections of example coaxial contacts;

FIGS. 173 through 175 illustrate example uses of coaxial contacts;

FIGS. 176 through 179 illustrate two simple examples of hermetic sealingusing contacts as described herein;

FIG. 180 is a chart summarizing different approaches for forming othervariants using the rigid/malleable contact paradigm;

FIGS. 181A, 181B and 182 are charts summarizing different approaches forforming via variants;

FIGS. 183 through 195 illustrate in greater detail the process flow fora particular instance involving deposition of metal on a daughter wafer;

FIGS. 196 through 205 illustrate in greater detail the process flow fora particular instance involving plating of metal on a daughter wafer;

FIGS. 206 a through 206 c illustrate in simplified form a mother waferelectroless plating variant;

FIGS. 207 a through 207 e illustrate in simplified form a mother waferthin dielectric variant;

FIGS. 208 a through 208 e illustrate in simplified form a mother waferthick dielectric variant;

FIG. 209 illustrates an example and some typical dimensions for a motherwafer contact, having 14 micron wide contact pads spaced on a 50 micronpitch, before barrier deposition;

FIG. 210 illustrates the contact of FIG. 209 after barrier and capdeposition;

FIG. 211 illustrates typical dimensions for a mother wafer contact,having 8 micron wide contact pads spaced on a 25 micron pitch;

FIG. 212 illustrates an example and some typical dimensions for adaughter wafer contact having 14 micron wide contact pads spaced on a 50micron pitch, created by deposition;

FIG. 213 illustrates an example and some typical dimensions for adaughter wafer contact having 8 micron wide contact pads spaced on a 25micron pitch, created by deposition;

FIG. 214 illustrates an example and some typical dimensions for a platedversion mother wafer contact, having 14 micron wide contact pads spacedon a 50 micron pitch before a self aligned seed etch is performed;

FIG. 215 illustrates the contact of FIG. 214 after the self aligned seedetch is performed;

FIG. 216 illustrates using the inner via as part of a heat pipearrangement;

FIG. 217 illustrates in simplified parallel form an example isolationand spanning variant;

FIG. 218 illustrates in simplified parallel form another exampleisolation and spanning variant;

FIG. 219 illustrates in simplified form a representative exampleconventional microprocessor chip and its respective constituentelements;

FIGS. 220A through 220D illustrate in simplified form how an alternativemicroprocessor can be constructed from the elements of themicroprocessor of FIG. 219 to provide a smaller footprint andsubstantially reduced distances between elements;

FIG. 221 shows a direct comparison of the footprint of the chip of FIG.219 to that of the chip of FIG. 220;

FIG. 222 illustrates functional packaging variants;

FIG. 223 illustrates details for variants of the packaging of FIG. 222;

FIGS. 224 through 231 illustrate in simplified overview a routinglessprocessing variant;

FIGS. 232 through 235 illustrate in simplified form alternativeroutingless variants;

FIG. 236 illustrates in simplified form the use of an optical, ratherthan wired, connection between two chips;

FIG. 237 illustrates in simplified form use of a variant of the heatpipe configuration to allow light to pass from a laser-bearing chip to aphotodetector-bearing chip even though there are two other chipsinterposed between them;

FIG. 238 illustrates in simplified form the tack and fuse processapproach;

FIG. 239 illustrates in simplified form the functional layers of adaughter contact;

FIG. 240 illustrates in simplified form the functional layers of amother contact;

FIG. 241 in simplified form example material configurations of thefunctional layers of daughter contacts;

FIG. 242 in simplified form example material configurations of thefunctional layers of mother contacts;

FIGS. 243A, 243B and 243C are photographs of joined mother and daughtercontacts;

FIGS. 244 and 245 illustrate in simplified form single pin-per-chiptooling;

FIGS. 246 and 247 illustrate in simplified form multiple pins-per-chiptooling;

FIGS. 248 and 249 illustrate in simplified form an alternative toolingapproach; and

FIGS. 250 through 254 illustrate in simplified form another alternativetooling approach.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

At the outset, it is to be understood that the term “wafer” as usedherein is intended to interchangeably encompass all of the terms “chip”,“die” and “wafer” unless the specific statement is clearly andexclusively only referring to an entire wafer from which chips can bediced, for example, in references to an 8 inch or 12 inch wafer, chip ordie “-to-wafer”, “wafer-to-wafer”, or “wafer scale” processing. If useof the term would, as a technical matter, make sense if replaced by theterm “chip” or “die”, those terms are also intended. Moreover, asubstantive reference to “wafer or chip” or “wafer or die” herein shouldbe considered an inadvertent redundancy unless the above is satisfied.

In general, specific implementations of aspects described herein make itpossible to form connections among two or more wafers containingfully-formed electronic, active optical or electro-optical devices in asimple, controllable fashion which also allows for a deep via depth,high repeatability, controlled capacitance and resistance, andelectrical isolation between the via and the wafer or substrate throughwhich the via passes.

Implementations of our process make it possible to form an electricallyconductive via that is narrow in width (i.e. down to about 15 micronswide or less) as well as deep (i.e. to more than about 50 microns indepth) through a chip of depth to width ratios on the order of 3:1 andas much as 30:1, although aspect rations on the order of 5:1 to 10:1will be more typical. Moreover, our approach advantageously makes itpossible to do so in circumstances where the portion of the chip the viapasses through will be electrically active. Specifically, we make itpossible to provide electrical access through the doped semiconductorpart of a wafer using a passage where side-walls insulate the dopedsemiconductor from an electrical conductor which propagates through thepassage. Moreover, our process works for narrow passages (i.e. about 15microns wide or, in some cases less) while allowing for tight control ofthe thickness of the isolating material and the electrical conductor soas to maintain a constant and acceptable capacitance and resistance.

Still further, our approach is suitable for use in forming contactshaving, if circular, a diameter of between 0.1 micron to 15 micron pads,the upper end not being a limit but rather simply the size below whichour approach permits integration not generally possible with otherapproaches, and the lower end being a function of currently availablephotolithography technology. In other words, advances inphotolitographic technology that allow for smaller definition will alsoallow the current limit to go smaller.

Still further, and unlike solder contacts, which can be hundreds orthousands of microns long, or wirebond contacts, which can also bethousands of microns long and thus often require significant pad driversto drive the impedance between chips, through our approaches, we can usevery short contacts (10 microns or less) which allows much lowerparasitic electrical effects between the chips. Our typical contact hasspacing between contacts three times or less the width of the malleablematerial (defined and discussed below) prior to integration with acomplementary contact (e.g. if the initial contact is 8 microns high,spacing between contacts would be up to about 25 microns.

Our approach further permits stacking of chips on a separation spacingof less than or equal to about 20 microns. In practice, less than orequal to 10 micron spacing will be typical, although we havedemonstrated that less than about 1 micron spacing can be done. Ingeneral, the minimum is determined by the topology of the closestsurfaces of the two wafers being joined; when they are touching at theirhighest points the distance between the pads represents the maximumheight spacing.

Our approach further makes it possible to form contacts on a pitch ofless than or equal to 50 microns. Typically, pitches of less that orequal to about 25 microns will be used, although we have demonstratedthat pitches as small as 7 microns can be done, again that limit being afunction of currently available photolithography technology. Here too,as technology advances, pitches can be smaller.

Features of some variants include one or more of the following:potential for millions of contacts/cm₂; electrical, mechanical andthermal attachment occurs concurrently; attachment done with low forcebut yields high strength connection (on the order of 1,000 kg/cm₂);connections can be done with economies of scale; non-planar wafers canbe accommodated; most processing can be done on a wafer scale (e.g. 10micron GaAs on 8″, 10″ or 12″ wafers); processes can be done on a chipto chip, chip to wafer, or wafer to wafer basis; processes areelectrically grounded; connections are made on a pre-formed (i.e. devicebearing chip) so can be used with third-party supplied chips; making ofvias before multiple chips are connected; capability to test chipcombination before it is permanently connected and to rework ifnecessary; mixing and matching of different technologies (i.e GaAs toInP, InP to Si, GaAs to Si, SiGe to SiGe to Si, etc. and even aninsulator wafer made of, for example, ceramic, LCP or glass); an abilityto create chip-sized packages that take advantage of semiconductorprocess economies; ability to allow low-speed functions to be moved offof core, expensive processes, but still have entire set of circuits actlike a single chip, allows design of an individual chip to takeadvantage of the variety of voltages, technologies, and materialsavailable and best suited for that particular design; irrespective ofthe technologies required for other aspects of the design; enhancedoff-chip communication; facilitates increased modularity of design atthe chip level allowing leverage of core designs into multiple productswithout having to absorb redundant non-recurring engineering costs; andallows matching of speed with technology type so that low speedcircuitry need not be formed on expensive, higher speed technology thannecessary.

In overview, our processes improve the ability to create a chip-to-chipconnection using “through-wafer” electrical contact that can be usedwith a doped substrate but will not short out the substrate and thus cancarry an opposite charge to that of the substrate through which itpasses. In addition, this “through-wafer” approach is usable with wafersof semiconductor materials, insulators such as ceramics, and otherconductive or non-conductive materials. Moreover, using currentequipment for etching semiconductor materials, i.e. having a 30 to 1aspect ratio, the process works well for vias of narrow cross section(i.e. 15 microns wide, or in some cases less) and vias extending for anoverall depth from in excess of 50 microns to depths of 500 microns ormore. In addition, the process allows for close control of capacitanceand resistance such that, for example, the vias created using theprocess can carry high speed electrical signals (i.e. of frequencies inexcess of 0.3 Ghz) or, in some implementations, optical signals.

Some implementations will also allow for concentric vias that, ifconductive, can each carry different signals or different charges. Stillfurther, some implementations allow for concentric vias in which theinner via can be used to as part of a cooling system by using a part ofthe arrangement to become part of a heat pipe arrangement. Otherimplementations provide the advantage that they are compatible with, andallow use of, stacking approaches in which chips are stacked andelectrically connected to other chips on a chip-to-chip, chip-to-waferor wafer-to-wafer basis.

Advantageously, virtually all of the stacking processes and variantsdescribed herein, or straightforwardly derived therefrom, only require anew stacked piece to be aligned to the piece directly below it. This isin sharp contrast to prior art techniques that attempted to stack andwhich must align all pieces in the stack together and then insert aconductive material to form the trans-stack connections. Such anapproach requires all of the pieces in the stack to be accuratelyaligned with respect to every other piece in common rather than just tothe piece below it. Moreover, our approaches work equally well withuniaxial, coaxial and triaxial connections, whereas alignment in-commonapproaches do not, if they can be done at all.

The various approaches are described for simplicity by way of example,using examples involving wafers of semiconductor material, for examplesilicon (Si), silicon-germanium (SiGe), gallium-arsenide (GaAs), etc.,that have been pre-formed (i.e. they already contain integrated circuitsor their components, and/or optical devices such as lasers, detectors,modulators as well as contact pads for those devices).

The first example of the approach involves a two-etch process where onlywafer, for purposes of example semiconductor material (i.e. dopedsemiconductor with or without some or all of its associated substrate),needs to be etched. This example process begins with a device-bearingwafer of semiconductor material. One or more trench regions of precisewidth are etched in the wafer to the desired depth such that, in thecase of a semiconductor wafer, the trench extends into the wafersubstrate and creates a perimeter about a portion of the semiconductormaterial. Notably, the shape of the perimeter can be any closed shapeand the outer and inner walls of the trench need not be the same shape.Capacitance and resistance of the ultimate via connection can becontrolled through selection of the shape of the inner and outerperimeter of the trench and their separation distance(s). The trenchdepth is typically 50 microns or more, in some cases 500 microns ormore, but the trench does not propagate through the entire substrate ofthe wafer so that the bounded semiconductor piece doesn't fall out. Thetrench is then filled with an electrically insulating material. At leasta portion of the bounded semiconductor piece is then etched away leavinga hole of narrower cross section than that bounded by the outer trenchwall, such that the via created by etching the semiconductor piece isbounded either by insulating material or a perimeter ring of materialfrom the center semiconductor piece for part of its depth and substratefor the rest. The hole is metalized to create an electrical connectionbetween the top of the wafer and the bottom of the hole. The back of thewafer (i.e. the substrate) is then thinned to expose metalization at thebottom of the hole which then becomes a substrate side contact or aportion thereof (interchangeably referred to herein by the broad term“contact”). Typically, at least the full depth of a portion of thesurface defining the hole will be metalized, although in someimplementations the metalization will only extend to a sufficient depththat it will be exposed when the substrate is sufficiently thinned. Inthis manner, if the process used to perform the metalization can not beused to metalize down to the full depth, as long as sufficientmetalization extends down to where the thinning will stop, the contactcan be formed. For example, in one example implementation, if the viaextends partway into the substrate for a total length of about 600microns, but the metalization can only be reliably done to an overalldepth of about 300 microns (i.e. 300 microns less than the via itself),the process is not adversely affected so long as the substrate can bethinned to at least reach the metallization without unacceptablyweakening the wafer or chip.

Through the above approach, variants described herein, and permutationsand combinations thereof, connection points can be brought closer to theon-chip devices. By bringing connection points closer to on-chipdevices, this approach facilitates chip-to-chip connections in thevertical direction (i.e. through chip stacking), can reduce the distancebetween connection points, and reduce or eliminate the need to usewirebonds for chip to chip connections. Moreover, the approachfacilitates creation of sub-component specialty designs that can bemixed and matched as desired during production. In other words, a thirddimension becomes more readily available for chipset materials,geometries and manufacture. In addition, the approach enables mixing ofdifferent speed or types of material technologies as well asmix-and-matching of component or subcomponent designs thereby providingdevelopment and manufacturing cost savings. Still further chip-to-chipconnections can be created that use optical rather than electricalconnections between chips.

The above is further facilitated through the optional use of achip-to-chip connection approach that reduces the stress on chips beingjoined, thereby reducing the risk of chip damage.

The particular aspects described above are illustrated in greater detailby way of a number of examples and with specific reference to figureswhich, for purposes of illustration and clarity of presentation, areoverly simplified and not to scale. In some cases, the scales areintentionally grossly exaggerated or distorted at the expense ofaccuracy for enhanced clarity of presentation and understanding.

Moreover, the approaches described herein are independent of theparticular devices on the chip or with which the aspects describedherein are used. Thus, the references to any specific type of device,for example the laser of the first example, are arbitrary and irrelevantto the aspects described herein except to the extent that they aredevices to which electrical contact may need to be made. In other words,the approaches described herein are essentially identical for alldevices and circuit elements to which contact may be made.

FIG. 1 is a simplified side view of a portion 100 of a chip 102containing multiple solid state electronic devices, for example,resistors, capacitors, transistors, diodes, lasers, photodetectors orsome combination thereof. The portion 100 shown in FIG. 1, for examplepurposes only, comprises a laser 104, having a “top” mirror 106 anactive region 108 below the top mirror 106 and a “bottom” mirror 110,located on a substrate 112, such that the device 104 has a height 114several microns above the top outer surface 116 of the non-deviceportion of the chip 102 near the device 104.

As shown, the laser 104 is a conventional vertical cavity surfaceemitting laser (VCSEL). For purposes of explanation, it should beassumed that the top mirror 106 will need to be electrically connectedto some element on the side 118 of the substrate opposite the side 120carrying the laser 104 and pass through the doped semiconductor material122 near the device 104 within a specified area 124.

At the outset, it should be understood that to the extend lasers orphotodetectors are discussed as the devices, the terms “top” and“bottom” follow a convention whereby the “bottom” is the portion closestto the substrate, irrespective of whether the laser emits towards oraway from the substrate 112 (or in the case of a photodetector thedirection from which it receives light).

FIG. 2 is a top view of the upper surface 116 of the specified area 124of FIG. 1 before the process starts.

The basic process of forming the through-chip contact will be describedwith reference to those aspects introduced in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 3 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 1 as aresult of processing as follows.

First, a trench 302 is etched into and through the semiconductormaterial 122, preferably using an anisotropic etching process (in orderto create relatively straight trench sidewalls 304), to a depth thatbrings the trench 302 part way into the substrate 112. The overall depthof the trench 302 can be 100 microns or more, in some cases extendingfor 500 to 600 microns or more. However, the trench 302 should stopbefore extending completely through the substrate 112 otherwise theability to implement the invention can, in many cases, be lost. Thetrench 302 is shaped such that it is closed on itself creating a crosssection in a plane parallel to the plane of the substrate that is anannulus. Through use of this annular trench 302, an “island” 306 of thesemiconductor material 122 will remain and be held in place at least bythe intact part 308 of the substrate 112. At this point it is worthnoting that, while the “annulus” referred to for the trench 302 is shownas circular in shape, this is only for purposes of simplicity ofillustration. As used herein, the terms “annular” or “annulus” should beunderstood to not be limited to any particular or regular shape nor doesthe outer periphery have to have the same shape as the inner periphery.As long as the trench is a closed shape so that it creates an isolated“island” within it, the trench is to be considered an annulus trench or“annular” as used herein. In other words, the terms are intended toinclude any combination of closed perimeter shapes including closedpolygons (regular or irregular) or other closed perimeter shapeswhether, for example, the shape is smooth, erose, etc. Moreover, theterms are intended to encompass fixed and varying widths as needed ordesired for the particular instance.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the upper surface 116 of the specified area 124of FIG. 1 following creation of the trench 302 shown in side view inFIG. 3. In this view, the annulus nature of the trench 302 is clearlyvisible. The trench 302 has a closed inner 312 and outer 314 perimeterand a width 310 so that the trench 302 surrounds, and thereby creates,an island 306 from the semiconductor material 122 within it.

FIG. 5 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 1 as aresult of continued processing as follows.

At least the trench 302 is coated with a dielectric or otherelectrically insulating material 500, which can optionally also cover aportion of the top outer surface 116 to a desired thickness. Optionally,if heat transfer is a concern a material that, while electricallyinsulating, is a good thermal conductor may be used as the electricallyinsulating material 500.

Advantages achieved by the above approach can be appreciated when viewedin contrast in the context of the prior art. First, as a general matter,it is extremely difficult to apply dielectric materials in a uniformmanner, particularly where a uniform thickness is required. Second, thisproblem is compounded when the dielectric needs to be applied to anon-flat surface and is further compounded when they must be applied tovertical walls, such as those of the vias described herein. Thus, to theextent other approaches attempt to create holes and then accurately coatthe walls of those holes with dielectric and thereafter make themconductive, those approaches lack any meaningful ability to controluniformity. The lack of uniformity present in those approachesdramatically affects capacitance and impedance, and hence performance,particularly where the signal frequencies involved will be very high,for example, in excess of about 0.3 GHz. In contrast, with theapproaches described herein, precise control of capacitance andresistance is possible because the dimensions of the trench 302 can beprecisely controlled to the precision of the trench 302 itself. Theperipheral walls of the trench 302 define the thickness and uniformityin coverage of the insulating material 500 (and hence, the ultimatecapacitance and impedance) because they constrain it. Therefore, allthat is required is ensuring that the trench 302 is filled—a very lowprecision and low cost process. Thus, unlike the prior art, precisionduring application of the dielectric is unnecessary.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the upper surface 116 of the specified area 124of FIG. 1 as shown in side view in FIG. 5, following the filling of thetrench 302 and (the optional) partially also covering some of the topouter surface 116 with the electrically insulating material 500.

FIG. 7 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 1 as aresult of continued processing as follows.

Once the electrically insulating material 500 has solidified (byhardening, curing or other processing), a via trench 702 is created byremoving the island 306 of semiconductor material within the annulus 704of insulating material 500 to a sufficient depth 502 necessary toachieve the particular desired implementation, for purposes of example,a depth similar in depth to that of the trench 302 (i.e. such that ittoo extends some distance into the substrate 112 but preferably notfully through it). In practice, the depth 502 of the via trench 702 canbe longer or shorter than depth of the trench 302 provided it tooextends sufficiently deep that it can be reached, if necessary duringprocessing as described below, in this example case, essentially thesame distance into the substrate 112 as the trench 302. Moreover, theinnermost wall of the annulus 704 that bounds the island 306 dictatesthe shape and profile of the via trench 702 that is created by theremoval process will be a dielectric. Accordingly, it will not typicallybe impacted by an etch process, a low precision etch process can be usedto remove the island 306 of semiconductor material because rigorouscontrol of the removal is unnecessary in the width or depth directions.Of course, removal can be augmented, or alternatively otherwise beaccomplished, by using one or more other suitable processes, forexample, laser ablation, laser drilling or some combination thereof.

Continuing with the process of this example, once the via trench 702 hasbeen created, the sidewall(s) 706 of the via trench 702, as well as thebottom 708 of the via trench 702, will all be electricallynon-conducting because the sidewall(s) 706 will be the insulatingmaterial 500 and the bottom 708 will be defined by the substrate 112.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the upper surface 116 of the specified area 124of FIG. 1 following the creation of the via trench 702 within theannulus 704 of electrically insulating material 500 shown in side viewin FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 1 as aresult of continued processing as follows.

The via trench 702 is made electrically conductive by “metalizing” atleast a longitudinal portion of the via trench sidewall surface 706(i.e. along its depth), for example, using sputtering, evaporation,plating or other physical or chemical deposition techniques for applyingmetals or, if need be, some combination thereof. In other words, themetalizing can involve use of a conductive solid, a conductive epoxy ora reflowable material (e.g. an appropriate temperature conductiveliquidus like a solder). This metalizing process can, and typicallywill, be used to create a continuous electrically conductive connectionfrom at least about the via bottom 708 to the upper surface 116, and inmany cases, all the way to the device of interest if it is part of thechip in which the via was made. By way of representative example FIG. 9shows an electrical trace 902 created by this process extending from acontact 904 on the upper mirror 106 of the laser 104 to the bottom 708of the via trench 702. As shown, the entire surfaces of the sidewall(s)706 and bottom 708 of the via trench 702 are completely coated withmetal.

As noted above, because the width and length of the insulating annuluscan be rigorously controlled, as can the thickness of the conductorformed by the metalizing, a constant capacitance relative to themetalized surface can be achieved. Moreover, the insulating material 500electrically isolates the contact 904 from the semiconductor material122 it is passing through and thus, can account for defects in thesemiconductor material that might otherwise electrically short thecontact to another device or conductor.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the upper surface 116 of the specified area 124of FIG. 1 following metalization of the via trench 702 and creation ofthe electrical trace 902 to the device contact 904 as shown in side viewin FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 through FIG. 14 illustrate additional, optional, processing thatmay be useful or desirable for some implementations. The approach shownin FIG. 11 or FIG. 12 is independent of the approach shown in FIG. 13 orFIG. 14. As a result, depending upon the particular implementation,either the approach shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 or the approach shownin FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 can be separately used, or the two approaches canbe used together in either order.

There are several advantages that can be obtained through use of one orboth of these optional approaches. First, filling the void with amaterial adds mechanical strength and increases structural rigiditythereby reducing potential stresses. Second, the use of solder, an epoxyor other bonding material can aid in the ultimate connection of the chipto another element, particularly when the connection involveshybridization of that chip to another chip. Third, by inserting amaterial into the void, the risk of undesirable materials entering thevoid is reduced. Finally, the filler material reduces or eliminates thepossibility of damaging the metalized portion within the via trench,particularly if less than the total sidewall is metalized. In addition,by varying the thickness of the insulator and metal, the coefficient ofthermal expansion (“CTE”) of the wafer can be balanced so as to matchthat of the wafer. For example, an oxide (CTE of 1 ppm) can be used inconjunction with copper (CTE of 17 ppm) to match the CTE of silicon (CTEof 2.5 ppm).

Of course, since these aspects are both optional, both can be dispensedwith while still using the invention. For completeness of understandinghowever, both processes are illustrated in connection with FIG. 11through FIG. 14.

FIG. 11 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 1 asa result of the optional processing as follows.

Once the metalization is complete, if the remaining void 1100 is notgoing to be left empty for use as described later, the remaining void1100 can optionally be partially or wholly filled with some material,for example, in this case a bonding substance 1102. Depending upon theparticular implementation this variant will be used for, the bondingsubstance 1102 can be conductive or non-conductive, i.e. an electricallyconductive substance such as solder, metal or alloy that can be appliedthrough, for example, electroless or electroplating techniques ordeposited by evaporative deposition or sputtering, or a non-conductivebonding agent like, for example, an appropriate type of glue or epoxy oroxide like silicon dioxide.

FIG. 12 is a top view of the upper surface 116 of the specified area 124of FIG. 1 following the optional introduction of the bonding substance1102 into the remaining void 1100 of via trench 702 shown in side viewin FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 1 asa result of the optional processing as follows.

Alternatively or additionally, if the metalization has not completelyfilled the void, once the metalization is finished, the remaining void1100, if any, can optionally be partially or wholly filled with, forexample, a simple finishing substance 1302. Depending upon theparticular implementation this variant will be used for, the finishingsubstance 1302 can be, for example, an insulator such as the insulatingmaterial 500 that was initially used to fill the trench 302 a conductorsuch as a conductive epoxy, a conductive solid, or a reflowablematerial, otherwise a conformal coating can be used. In addition, thefinishing substance 1302, if used, need not be introduced solely intothe void 1100. As shown in FIG. 13, if it is an electrical insulatingmaterial and a bonding substance 1102 has been used, the finishingsubstance 1302 can be inserted after and on top of any such bondingsubstance 1102 and can extend outside the void 1100 so as to cover andprotect some part of the outer surface of the wafer and/or a part 1304of the trace 902 that extends to the contact 904, or, even if there isno void, to planarize the wafer. For example, the finishing substance1302 could be an oxide that can be flattened and thereby planarize thewafer so that the full surface can be used for bonding to anotherelement like a wafer or individual chip.

FIG. 14 is a top view of an insulator upper surface 116 of the specifiedarea 124 of FIG. 1 following the optional addition of the finishingsubstance 1302 into the remaining void 1100 on top of the bondingsubstance 1102 as shown in side view in FIG. 13 and in sufficientquantity to provide covering and protection for at least a part 1304 ofthe trace 902.

Returning to the basic process, FIG. 15 shows a simplified cutaway viewof the portion 100 of FIG. 1 as a result of continued processing asfollows.

Once the metalization aspect shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 is complete(whether or not one or both of the optional aspects shown in FIG. 11through FIG. 14 are used) the back (i.e. non-device carrying) side 118of the substrate 112 is thinned using, for example, a chemical processsuch as etching, a mechanical process such as polishing, a chemicalmechanical process (CMP) or some combination thereof, at least until thebottom metalization 1502 is exposed, thereby creating an electricalcontact 1504 on the back 118 of the substrate 112 that is electricallyconnected to the device contact 904 that is electrically isolated fromthe doped semiconductor material 122 (in this case the bottom mirror 110of the laser 104) without the need for performing any specializedbackside processing.

Alternatively, the thinning can be performed until the bottommetallization 1502 is removed or the void 1100 volume is exposed(whether filed or not). FIG. 16 shows a simplified cutaway view of theportion of FIG. 15 following thinning of the substrate to remove thebottom metalization. Advantageously, if the approach of at least FIG. 11and FIG. 12 was used, the void 1100 was filled with a bonding substance1102. Thus, as shown in FIG. 16, thinning the back side 118 of thesubstrate 112 until the bottom metalization 1502 of FIG. 15 is removedexposes the bonding substance 1102 while leaving an “annulet” of metalcontact 1602 that can still serve as part of the back side electricalcontact. Thus, if the bonding substance 1102 is electrically conductive,for example solder, the annulet 1602 and the bonding substance 1102together act as the contact, whereas if the bonding substance 1102 isnot electrically conductive, it can still be used to bond the chip toanother element while the annulet 1602 acts as the contact and providesan electrically conductive path from the back side 118 to the devicecontact 904.

Alternatively, the arrangements of FIG. 15 or FIG. 16 could be thinnedso that the metallization or metal contact protrudes beyond the bottomof the wafer for use as a contact in the post and penetration approachalone or with a tack and fuse approach as described herein.

It should now be appreciated that above basic process, as well as themore complex alternative processes that follow and build upon the basicprocess, provide a further advantage over the prior art in that makingof the vias before fabrication of the devices (e.g. transistors, diodes,lasers, photodetectors, etc.) on the wafer is not required. Moreover,the process does not require that the vias only occur in on theperiphery of the chip in areas where conventional wirebond pads wouldoccur. Instead, the instant process is more localized and can beperformed at sufficiently low temperatures such that circuitry can beformed on or embedded in the semiconductor before via formation and thevias can be placed in areas other than the periphery of the chip. Thismakes it possible to use the process with chips made by others, withoutthe need to be involved in the design process of those chips, and aswill be described in greater detail below, to make connection pathsbetween devices on different chips much shorter than could be donethrough the use of wirebond pads. Still further, because the processfacilitates making paths through the wafer, as described in greaterdetail below, the process is highly useful for chip stacking or forcreating mix and match chip “units”.

One problem that can arise in connection with the filling of a trenchwith an electrically insulating material, particularly when the trenchis narrow in width and relatively deep, for example 100 microns or morein depth, is the possibility of there being pinholes, air bubbles orother imperfections in the electrically insulating material. Theseimperfections, if extant, could result in an undesirable conductive pathbetween doped semiconductor material of a device the trench passesthrough and a conductor within it.

Advantageously, if this is a potential problem or concern, thealternative variant shown in FIG. 17 through FIG. 23 can render theproblem or concern moot.

FIG. 17 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 5 asa result of processing according to this alternative variant as follows.

As with FIG. 7, a via trench 1700 is created however, unlike FIG. 7, theentire island 306 of semiconductor material 122 within the annulus 704of insulating material 500 is not removed. Rather, the via trench 1700is smaller than that of FIG. 7 so that a perimeter annulus volume 1702of semiconductor material 122 remains. Since the perimeter volume 1702of semiconductor material 122 is bounded by the insulating material 500and the substrate 112, it is electrically isolated from thesemiconductor material 122 of the device 104. In addition, since theoverall semiconductor material 122 is more perfectly and uniformlyformed, any imperfection in the insulating material 500 within thetrench 302 will be isolated from metalization in the via 1700 by theperimeter volume 1702 of semiconductor material 122. Other than theabove, the approach is the same as described in connection with FIG. 7.Thus, the via trench 1700 is similarly made to a depth 1704 that extendsto within the substrate 112 (but preferably not fully through it), forexample, by a further etching process or through another suitableprocess, for example, laser drilling. Once the via trench 1700 has beencreated, the sidewall(s) 1706 of the via trench 1700, as well as thebottom 1708 of the via trench 1700, will all be electricallynon-conducting as described above, but the sidewall(s) 1706 will be theisolated semiconductor material 1702 surrounded by the annulusinsulating material 704.

FIG. 18 is a top view of a section taken at A-A below the specified area124 of FIG. 1 following the creation of the via trench 1700 within theannulus of semiconductor material 1702 that is bounded by theelectrically insulating material 704 as shown in side view in FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 5 asa result of further metallization processing of this alternative variantof FIG. 17 in the manner described in connection with FIG. 9.

FIG. 20 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 5 asa result of further optional processing of this alternative variant ofFIG. 17 in the manner described in connection with FIG. 11.

FIG. 21 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 5 asa result of further optional processing of this alternative variant ofFIG. 17 in the manner described in connection with FIG. 13.

FIG. 22 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 5 asa result of thinning the substrate to expose the bottom metalization1502 in the manner described in connection with FIG. 15 for thealternative variant of FIG. 17.

FIG. 23 shows a simplified cutaway view of the portion 100 of FIG. 5 asa result of thinning the substrate to remove the bottom metalization1502 and expose the bonding substance 1102 in the manner described inconnection with FIG. 16 for the alternative variant of FIG. 17.

Based upon the above, further alternative variants can be created havingdual isolated (i.e. coaxial or coax) conductors. This is advantageousbecause dual conductors allow for greater contact density and can reducecross-talk. In addition, with the dual conductor variants, as will beseen, the outer conductors are separated electrically from the innerconductor allowing them to operate at different voltages; for oneconductor to operate as a electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield toprotect against signal noise, or to allow the signals to propagatedifferentially through the structure so that lower noise data transfercan occur. Moreover, as with the single conductor approach, only onelithography defined precision etch is performed, the annular trench. Aswill be seen below, removal of the central material is controlled by theboundary metal and thus is not subject to process variations inherent inphotolithographically defined steps or etching. Thus, even this approachis more reproducible and process robust.

Two example coax variants are illustrated in FIGS. 24 through 29B asfollows. These variants are suitable for cases where the outermostconductor can be in direct contact with the semiconductor materialwithout adverse effect. Example alternative coax variants followthereafter in FIGS. 30A and 30B. The alternative dual conductor variantsof FIGS. 30A and 30B are analogous to and improve upon the alternativevariant shown in FIG. 17 through FIG. 23 and thus likewise suitable torender the same problems or concerns moot.

Initially, the basic dual-conductor creation process follows theapproach described in connection with FIGS. 1 through 3. Since thisvariant builds upon those described previously, for simplicity, onlythose additional or different aspects relevant to this variant arediscussed, the remainder being discernable from the precedingdiscussion. Thereafter, the processing according to this dual conductoralternative variant is as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 24, at leastthe sidewalls 304 of FIG. 3 are metalized 2402 as described above. Notethat the lowest surface 2400 of the trench 302 may, or may not, bemetalized but, as will be evident from the following, this will notaffect the ultimate result. FIG. 24 shows a simplified cutaway view ofthe portion 100 of FIG. 3 immediately following metallization accordingto this variant.

Following metalization, at least the trench 302 is filled with theelectrically insulating material 500. The result of this step is shownin FIG. 25.

Again, as shown in FIG. 26, a via trench 2600 is created by removing theentire island 2406 of semiconductor material 122 bounded by the innerperimeter of the annulus 2602 of metallization 2402.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 27, an approach similar to that of FIG.17 can be employed at this point (i.e. instead of removing the entireisland 306 of semiconductor material 122 within the annulus 704 ofinsulating material 500, only an inner portion is removed 2702 so that aperimeter annulus volume 2704 of semiconductor material 122 remains).

Otherwise, and thereafter, the approach is essentially the same asdescribed previously. The via trench 2600, 2702 is made to a depth thatextends to within the substrate 112 (but preferably not fully throughit), for example, by a further etching process or through anothersuitable process, for example, laser drilling or ablation.

The via trench 2600, 2702 is then filled with a conductor 2802 and thesubstrate is thinned as described above. In the case of the firstexample dual-conductor variant (FIG. 28A), until the bottom metalizingis removed and the inner conductor 2802 is exposed on the substrate 112side as shown in FIG. 28B. In the case of the second exampledual-conductor variant (FIG. 29A), thinning is performed until thelowermost portion of the metallization is exposed along with the innerconductor as shown in FIG. 29B. Note that in the variant of FIG. 28B,one conductor is made up of the outer ring of metalizing 2804 and theother is made up of the inner ring of metalizing 2806 plus the innerconductor 2802 because the two abut and hence, are shorted together,whereas in the variant of FIG. 29B, one conductor is made up of themetalizing 2402 and the other is made up of the inner conductor 2802.

Thus, in dual-conductor variants such as shown in FIG. 28B, it is highlydesirable to make sure that the depth of the annulus 704 and the depthof the via trench 2700 are both beyond the point to which the substratewill ultimately be thinned. In other words, if the overall thickness ofthe wafer is 500 microns and the wafer substrate will be thinned by 200microns, the depth of the via trench 2700 must be at least 300 micronsplus the likely metallization thickness and, consequently, the originaldepth of the annulus 704 would have likely needed to be even more thanthat of the via trench 2700. The reason for this requirement is thatelectrical isolation between the two conductors is necessary. The abovealso is the reason why, in some implementations, a failure to coat thelowest part of the trench 302 will have little to no impact, because itis removed during the thinning process anyway.

Based upon the above, it should be recognized that a further alternativecoax variant, similar to that of FIG. 28B or 29B, can be created merelyby making the sidewalls of the trench non-conductive prior tometalizing. This can be accomplished by, for example, applying a thincoating of dielectric to the sidewalls through dielectric sputtering,plasma deposition, or by pre-creating the initial annular trenches (i.e.before electronic device fabrication) and using a thermal or steamoxidation technique. This technique involves exposing the sidewalls to areactive gas so, in the case of a silicon wafer, it is oxidized (theconceptual equivalent of causing iron to rust) to form a thin coating ofsilicon dioxide on the sidewall surfaces. In general overview, theoxidation of the silicon can be performed in a steam environment inaccordance with the Deal-Grove model. This approach causes the oxidationto occur in a highly controlled and accurately reproducible manner.Analogous processes can be used to create a coating of siliconoxy-nitride or silicon nitride. Advantageously, with this variant,because the resulting oxide is not deposited—it is thermally grown—itforms evenly and thereby does not introduce the problems inherent withapplying a dielectric in liquid, viscous, paste or other form. Moreover,it creates a highly uniform, extremely controllable dielectric materialcoating, to depths of a millimeter or more, across 12 inch siliconwafers to extremely precise tolerances. Still further, this process hasthe effect of smoothing the sidewalls, thereby aiding in more uniformmetallization.

Of course, it will be understood that this further alternative variantmay be unsuitable for some applications, due to the dielectric constantof silicon dioxide, silicon oxy-nitride or silicon nitride, orimpossible to implement for others due to other factors not pertinent toan understanding of the subject matter described herein. Otherwise, theapproach is the same as described in connection with any of the variantsdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 24 through 29B.

For completeness, examples illustrating adding the optional additionalthermally created dielectric or insulator 3002 aspect to the approachesof FIGS. 28 and 29 are respectively illustrated in FIGS. 30A and 30B. Itshould also be appreciated that, in some variants of FIG. 30B, namelythose having only partial removal of the inner island so as to leave anannulet of semiconductor material about the via trench, the thermallycreated dielectric approach can be used to form a dielectric coating onthe remaining annulet—provided that aspect is also performed eitherprior to device creation, following taking suitable measures to ensurethe process will not damage any devices that have already been formed inor on the chip, or on a chip where any devices that are in or on thechip are impervious to the process.

Alternatively, the partial removal can be an inverse partial removal,i.e. the inner island is removed from the via trench inward, leaving asmaller island within the via trench. With this variant, the smallerisland can serve as a post upon which a contact can be built up andconnected to the metalization or conductor. Similarly, the partialremoval can be a partial removal from the depth perspective, leaving awell or recess that can be used as the female part of a male/femaleconnector or, if made conductive, can serve as an electrical contact.

Advantageously, it should now be apparent from the above that, as shownin FIG. 31, a three-conductor (i.e. triaxial or triax) variant can alsobe constructed merely by taking the approach resulting in FIG. 28B butthinning to the extent shown in FIG. 28A (i.e. until the metalizationmaterial at the bottom of the trench is completely removed). This threeconductor variant is advantageous because it allows the outermetallization to act as a shield between the inner metallization and/orconductor and the device bearing semiconductor material nearby, themetalization metallization between the outer metalization and the innerconductor to act as either a shield between the two, or as a thirdconductor. Thus, the same three-conductor variant provides severalalternative advantages in its own right. Of course, it is to beunderstood that, in view of the relationship between thesingle-conductor, two-conductor and three-conductor variants, alloptions described for use with any one (i.e. coatings (thermally createdor applied), void-filling, post and penetration contacts (describedbelow), etc.) are generally interchangeably applicable to all.

As briefly noted above, it is not necessary that the remaining voidexisting after removal of the central island of material be filled withanything at all. Moreover, in some implementations described hereinthere are specific advantages to not doing so.

FIG. 32 shows a simplified cutaway view of a portion 100 of a chipimplementation, (similar to the implementation of FIG. 9 through FIG. 16except the void 3210 remaining after metalization has not been filled atall) positioned above an electronic chip 3200 to which the chip 102 willbe hybridized so that the contact pad 3202 on the electronic chip 3200that is to be electrically connected to the top contact 904 of the laser104 is beneath the void 3210. A solder bump or other softenable,deformable, electrically conductive material 3204 rests on the contactpad 3202 and will be used to physically and electrically bond thisportion of the two chips 102, 3200 together either through capillaryaction or deformation upon insertion with pressure.

FIG. 33 shows a simplified cutaway view of a portion of an alternativechip implementation, similar to that of FIG. 23 except, as with FIG. 32,the void 3310 remaining after metalization has not been filled,positioned above an electronic chip 3300 to which the chip 102 will behybridized so that the contact pad 3302 on the electronic chip 3300 thatis to be electrically connected to the top contact 904 of the laser 104is beneath the void 3310. A solder bump 2404 rests on the contact pad3302 and will be used to physically and electrically bond this portionof two chips 3302, 3300 together.

By not filling the void 3210, 3310 in the implementation of FIG. 32 orFIG. 33, capillary action can be used to draw the solder 3204 into thevoid 3210, 3310 or pressure can be used to cause the deformable material3204 to deform and enter into the voids, and thereby a) insure a goodelectrical connection and b) aid in alignment of the chips to eachother.

FIG. 34 and FIG. 35 each show the respective cross sections of FIG. 32and FIG. 33 following hybridization of the chips to each other. As canbe seen, the solder 3202 has been drawn up into the respective voids3210, 3310 with the contact 3206, 3306 of the chip being relativelycentered over the contact 3202, 3302 of the respective electronic chip3200, 3300 to which it is hybridized.

As shown in FIG. 36 for the implementation of FIG. 34 (although the sameis equally true for the implementation of FIG. 35 but not shown),coating with an insulator or conformal coating 2800 can optionally beperformed.

As briefly noted above, irrespective of the variant used, the annulustrench described above (as well as the perimeter of semiconductormaterial if that variant is used) can be any closed shape. However, asan extension of the above, it should also be understood that the viatrench need not be the same shape as the annulus trench nor does thewidth of the annulus trench have to be uniform, although in mostimplementations both will be the same shape, for ease of implementationreasons as well as capacitance or resistance or both. FIG. 37 a throughFIG. 37 f show a few representative examples of cross sections ofannulus trenches to illustrate the point. In FIG. 37 a, the annulustrench 3702 is illustrated as being triangular. As a result, the width3704 of the trench 3702 is larger at the points 3706 of the trianglethan at the sides 3708. In FIG. 37 b, the annulus trench 3710 isillustrated as being rectangular. As a result, the width of the trench3710 is larger at the corners 3712 than at the sides 3714 and the longsides 3716 are spaced farther apart than the short sides 3718. In FIG.37 c, the annulus trench 3720 is illustrated as being bounded by twodifferent ovals. As a result, the overall width of the annulus trench3720 varies with position. In FIG. 37 d, the annulus trench 3722 isillustrated as being square. As a result, the width of the trench 3722is larger at the corners than at the sides but the sides are uniformlyspaced apart. In FIG. 37 e, the annulus trench 3724 is illustrated assquare at the outer perimeter 3726, but circular at the inner perimeter3728. In FIG. 37 f, the annulus trench 3730 is illustrated as circularat the outer perimeter 3732, but square at the inner perimeter 3734. InFIG. 37 g, the annulus trench 3736 is a convexo-concave (or kidney-likeshape) shape where the outer perimeter 3738 and the inner perimeter 3740are scaled versions of each other and the width of the trench isconstant. In FIG. 37 h, the annulus trench 3742 has an outer perimeter3744 similar in shape to that of FIG. 37 g and an inner perimeter 3746of hexagonal shape.

An extension of the above applies equally to the variants that have anannulus of semiconductor material in addition to the annulus ofinsulator, i.e. the shape of each peripheral surface can be the same asthe others or one or more can be different from one or more of theothers as desired or as needed for the particular application.

In addition to the advantages obtainable, per se, from use of the aboveto ultimately create connections between two chips, the above approachesprovide significant advantages in the area of chip, die or waferstacking, particularly where the chip, die or wafer is pre-processed,e.g. it is fully formed from a function standpoint in that it alreadyhas whatever functional devices in terms of the transistors, capacitors,diodes, switches, resistors, capacitors, etc. it will contain created onit.

Creating vias using the annular via process provides a way to stackwafers in a manner which allows electrical conductivity and alsorequires little or no post-processing of the after the wafers are fused.This is highly beneficial, both on a cost and yield basis, particularlyat the wafer level where two wafers are to be hybridized together or awafer is to be populated with multiple individual chips. When puttingwafers together, one of the key realizations is that the hybridizedtwo-wafer piece (i.e. after putting two wafers together) has a muchhigher value than a single wafer piece (i.e. the single waferimmediately prior to hybridization). Likewise if three wafer pieces arestacked together, the value is even higher. Any post-processing that hasto be done to a series of stacked dies after they are integrated adds alot of risk because damage will result in scrapping a very high-valueadded piece.

Thus, the above processes provide a much better approach because all ofthe via processing and thinning occurs before the devices are stacked.As a result, fully stack-ready pieces are created that can just belayered one on top of another for joining (i.e. hybridization) with noadditional wafer processing, via formation having been done postcreation of the on-chip devices and prior to hybridization. As chips arestacked with the above approaches, while the value of the combinationgoes up and up, the number of steps to attach another layer is typicallyjust one, namely—attach the next die (unless thinning is necessary andwas not performed prior to the hybridization). This minimizes the riskof yield loss to expensive parts due to post processing inherent instacking prior art where chips are stacked and thereafter, electricalcontacts are created.

Thus, in contrast to the prior art, creating the vias before stackingallows for:

1) reduced or no post-processing on the stacked piece (resulting in lesslabor and higher yield); and

2) greater alignment tolerance (each chip only needs to be aligned wellrelative to the one immediately below (as opposed to stacking prior artwhich requires all pieces to be aligned in common relative to the bottompiece)).

FIG. 38 illustrates in simplified form, a generic overview form aprocess for preparing a wafer for stacking FIG. 38A shows in simplifiedform a portion of the initial, fully formed wafer and, specifically adevice 3802 and its underlying substrate 3804. The generic process is asfollows. First, a material 3806 is deposited on the device side of thewafer (FIG. 38B). Then, the material 3806 and underlying locations forcontacts are etched to create trenches 3830 (FIG. 38C). The walls 3810of the trenches 3808 are insulated 3812 to prevent potential shorting ofdoped semiconductor material to the contact to be created (FIG. 38D).

Alternatively, the material 3806 can be created “automatically” duringthe deposition of the insulating layer 3812. For example, we have putTEOS (oxide) on the wafers by eliminating the first deposition of thematerial 3806, etching the trenches 3808, then depositing TEOS. Becauseof the way this material deposits, it placed 2.5 microns of material ontop of the wafer and 1.25 microns on the walls in the trenches. Thisprovides an alternative approach to getting a thick top layer whilestill covering the walls of the trenches. In other words, with thisalternative, putting the material 3806 on as a separate step could beeliminated or be used in conjunction with the remaining steps dependingupon the topology of the wafer.

Metal 3814 is then introduced into the trenches to provide a seed layerfor plating of a conductor (FIG. 38E). Then the remaining via volume isfilled with the metal 3816 that will be the conductor (FIG. 38F). Next,the excess metal (and optionally some of the material 3806 and/orinsulating layer 3812) is removed, for example by a chemical ormechanical process or some combination thereof (FIG. 38G). Then, thewafer is etched to create openings 3820, 3822 that provide access to theoriginal, existing contact locations 3824, 3826 (FIG. 38H). Next, metal3828, 3830 is applied to interconnect the existing contact locations3824, 3826 with the new processing-formed contacts 3832, 3834 (FIG.381). Next, the back side 3836 of the wafer is thinned to expose theother end of the processing-formed contacts 3832, 3834 and optionally toremove the insulator 3812 at the bottom of the trenches 3808 (FIG. 38J).Then, the back side 3836 of the wafer is etched to create upraised posts3838, 3840 and, if the insulator 3812 at the bottom of the trenches 3808was not removed in the prior step, to remove the insulator 3812 (FIG.38K). Alternatively, in some implementations, the insulator 3812 couldbe partially removed or, in some cases not removed at all if electricalconductivity is not required, for example, if it is to be used to simplyalign or to create a non-electrical post-type connection. Finally, ifthe exposed fill material that became the post is of a type that canoxidize or otherwise react in a manner that is adverse to later forminga connection, an optional barrier layer 3842 can be applied on theupraised posts 3838, 3840 to prevent oxidation or such other adversereaction.

In still other alternative variants, the steps of FIG. 38J, FIG. 38K andFIG. 38L can be performed after applying a malleable material (for useas described below) on top of the metal 3828, 3830 and protecting it.This variant reduces the number of steps that have to be performed afterthe wafer is thinned.

At this point, a generic through-chip connection has been created thatcan facilitate stacking on a chip, die or wafer basis and thereby formone or more multi-wafer units.

FIGS. 39 through 41 generically illustrate portions of example chipsprocessed to create through-chip connections using different variants ofthe above-described processes that have, thereafter, been stackedtogether to form such a unit. Specifically, FIG. 39 shows correspondingportions 3900 of a series of stacked chips interconnected with eachother using the basic approach variant. FIG. 40 shows correspondingportions 4000 of a series of stacked dual-conductor variant chips. FIG.41 shows corresponding portions 4100 of a series of stackedthree-conductor variant chips. It should now be appreciated from theabove that by employing one of the processes described herein, stacksand units can be formed from wafer components that need not be organizedin a coplanar manner or even a fully overlapping manner, but cannevertheless extend in the vertical direction.

Note that, in each of the three stacks of FIGS. 39 through 41, optionalcontact pads 3902, 4002, 4102, 4104 have been added as standoffs toensure proper clearance and good electrical contact between wafers.

Depending upon the particular application in which the above will beused, the contacts can be formed in a number of ways. For example, thevias can be microbumped with, for example a C-4 solder type process ofthe prior art, so that two points to be electrically connected areplaced into contact and the solder is changed to a liquidus state andthen hardened so that the two pieces will be physically and electricallyjoined. In other variants, a pair of contacts can be used where onecontact of the pair is rigid and the other is malleable relative to thefirst and a process as described herein is used to join them. In yetother variants, both contacts in the pair can have malleable material onthem and an appropriate process as described herein or otherwise is usedto join them. Alternatively, a post and socket type approach of theprior art can be used. With this approach, the two contacts to be joinedare made in complementary shapes where either the post is slightlyoversized relative to the socket or the socket is slightly undersizedrelative to the size of the post such that bringing the two togetherresults in an interference fit between the two.

In certain cases, it is desirable to use thicker wafers (FIG. 42A) toensure strength in handling. In situations where a wafer is particularlythick and the diameter of a desired via is less than about 1/20th to1/30th of the desired thickness of the wafer an alternative process canbe used for some variants to accommodate the thicker wafer. The processof forming such “back to front” vias is illustrated in simplified formin FIGS. 42B through 42E. First, a via is etched into the back side ofthe device-bearing wafer (FIG. 42B). Then, the via can be madeconductive using one of the processes described herein (i.e. singleconductor, coax, triax, etc.) or through some other process likeinserting a pre-formed post (FIG. 42C). The approach can result in theback side having either a malleable material or the a rigid postmaterial. Then, a corresponding via is etched over the conductor fromabove (i.e. the front or device side) down to where the bottom of theback side conductor ends (FIG. 42D). Next, optionally, the front sidedevices are protected and, if desired, contacts to devices or reroutingis performed (not shown) using, for example, an approach describedherein, and the via is made conductive in essentially the same manner asused for the back side (FIG. 42E). Advantageously, with some variants,the material at the bottom of the back side conductor can serve as anetch stop and/or a seed layer for plating the conductor from the frontside. This can reduce the number of processing steps relative to theapproach used to form the conductor on the back side. Moreover, withother variants, if it is desired that there be no physical connectionbetween the conductor from the back via and the conductor from the frontvia, a suitable amount of wafer can be left between the two with theconnection being made through capacitive coupling.

The approach works with both traditional via processes where a singlevia is performed and insulator and metals are deposited in one hole orin our previously described process with the annular via approach tocreate highly controlled impedance vias.

In addition, the back to front approach can be used where one side has anon-completely filled via so that the unfilled part of the via can serveas a “slot” that will receive a “post” (i.e. a pressure or interferencefit connection and thereby provide for alignment and/or physicalconnectivity as well as electrical connectivity. This type of pressureor interference fit aspect is illustrated in FIG. 42F.

In another alternative variant, the back-to-front method of via creationdescribed above can be used to create a connection only part-way throughthe chip in such a way so that capacitive coupling can be used to senddata between the chips. Because capacitive coupling works when thecontacts are closer, and because the density of connections is limitedby crosstalk, variants of approaches described herein are ideal forcreating chips using this type of communication. These approachesreadily allow for minimization of crosstalk by close connections,because it is possible for the distance between the contacts to beminimized and through use of coax or triax posts so that shielding canbe provided. Moreover, capacitive contacts have the advantage that noactual electrical contact between the parts is necessary. With thisapproach, shown in FIGS. 43A through 43D, vias are etched from the backof the chip (FIG. 43B) in such a way that they are close enough to thecontacts on the top of the chip so as to be physically removed from thecontact but, when filled, are sufficiently close to allow for goodcapacitive coupling of an applied signal between the fill and thecontact. The vias are then filled with metallic studs, single conductor,coax or triax conductors to allow good capacitive coupling (FIG. 43C).In this way the wafers can be kept at an overall thickness which allowssufficient strength for handling of the wafers while the connectionshave the appropriate distance. This approach provides the furtheradvantage that it allows stacking to occur by stacking the back of onewafer to the front of another wafer. In this way multi-stacking of chipscan occur as shown in FIG. 43D. This is in sharp contrast with anapproach that would require the chips to be face-to-face rather thanfront-to-back because such an approach does not readily allow formulti-stacking of chips to occur (i.e. stacking of three or more chips)since a third chip would have to be on the back of one of the other twochips and then communicate through an entire wafer, requiring sparsecontact densities to avoid the prospect of crosstalk. Of course, withthe approaches described herein, coax or triax via can be used toenhance shielding of signals to prevent crosstalk.

In addition, capacitive coupling can be used with a pressure fitconnection if, for example a true back to front connection is notcreated in that the two vias do not linkup (i.e. material is leftbetween the via created from the front side and the back side post). Insuch a case, the front side via will be independently created accordingto one of the variants described herein, as will the back side via.

Still further, capacitive coupling can occur between one or morecontacts on a chip surface (whether created through a via approach orother approach). This may be desirable if, for example, with a stackingapproach, chip heights do not allow for two complementary contacts toeasily physically touch although they are close together because, forexample there is a chip or metalization or other topology maintains aseparation between the two, or one or both are covered by an insulator,like TEOS, a photoresist or some other oxide.

From the foregoing, the versatility of our approaches should be moreapparent. Advantageously, even further variants can be created thatillustrate the broad and versatile range of possibilities availablethrough use of our approaches. One such variant, shown in FIG. 44Athrough 44I, is a “pre-connect” variant which differs from the above andother approaches because the wafer to be processed gets attached to anunderlying pre-formed wafer 4402 (referred to herein as a “base” wafer)before any processing as described herein begins (i.e. before theannular trench is formed). In this variant, any of the basic connectionforming processes can be used. This variant process proceeds as follows.

First, the initial wafer is thinned to the extent necessary to ensurethat the via can go completely through the substrate (FIG. 44A). Thisstep is optional, and need not be performed if the particular etchingprocess that will be used can go entirely through the entire chipwithout difficulty. Then, the initial wafer is aligned (FIG. 44B) andattached to the base wafer (FIG. 44C) using a bonding material, waferfusion or, if the wafers are very flat, through covalent bonding. Next,annular vias are created in the initial wafer, over the pads of the basewafer, extending down to the base wafer such that the via surrounds thepad of interest on the base wafer (FIG. 44D). The annular via is thenfilled with an insulator so that subsequent conductor deposition isisolated (FIG. 44E). Then, all or part of the central post is etchedaway down to the pad of interest on the base wafer in order to create avoid above the base wafer's pad (FIG. 44F). Finally, the void ismetalized (FIG. 44G) and optionally either fully filled with a conductor(FIG. 44H) using one of the approaches described herein or if themetalization does not fully fill the center of the void, it can befilled with an insulator (FIG. 44I). As a result, the metal fillingforms an electrical connection to the base wafer pad and effectivelyextends the base wafer pad up through the initial wafer and physicallybonds the two chips together. Advantageously, by using this approach thecentral post of the semiconductor material protects the base wafer's padso that no insulator interacts with the base wafer pad. This is markedlydifferent that what would happen if conventional approaches were used totry the same thing because those conventional approaches would leave thebase wafer pad exposed and thus would allow contamination by the appliedinsulator.

In some cases however, the pressure fit connection approaches will notbe suitable because of a lack of control-ability. For those instances,an optional alternative approach we have devised called a “post andpenetration” approach can be used. Ideally, the post and penetrationapproach can, and typically will be, used along with a “tack and fuse”process owing to the advantages each provides alone and the furtheradvantages provided by their use in combination.

The approach involves the use of two contacts in combination: a rigid“post” contact and a relatively malleable (with respect to the postmaterial) pad contact, in some cases, either or both having anunderlying rigid supporting structure or standoff. In simple overview,one of the two contacts is a rigid material, such as nickel (Ni), copper(Cu) or paladium (Pd) or other suitably rigid alloy such as describedherein. This contact serves as the “post.” The other of the two contactsis a material that is sufficiently softer than the post that when thetwo contacts are brought together under pressure (whether from anexternally applied force or a force caused, for example, by flexation ofthe wafer) the post will penetrate the malleable material (the “post andpenetration” part) and heated to above a pre-specified temperature (thetack phase of the tack and fuse process) the two will become “tacked”together upon cooling to below that temperature without either of themreaching a liquidus state.

Note that, as used herein, the term liquidus is intended to mean a statein which the metal or alloy being discussed is in a fully (orsubstantially fully) liquid form. When a metal is in a non-liquidus orsemi-liquidus state, as used herein, the metal is sufficiently soft toallow for attachment as described herein, but is insufficiently liquidto allow it to run or flow like the same metal or alloy would in a pureliquid or liquidus state. Most variants of our processes operate withthe metal or alloy in a non-liquidus and non-solidus state. Statedanother way, on a phase diagram for the metal or alloy, our processvariants operate between the solidus (fully solid) and liquidus (fullyliquid) temperatures, with most operating near the equilibrium pointbetween the two. This difference can be further understood withreference, for example, to the joining a chip to another element asillustrated in FIG. 33 through FIG. 36. In those figures, if thematerial 2404 is a solder (metal or alloy) in the liquidus state it willcause the chip to “float” on the melted solder and the vias 3210, 3310would self-center over the solder ball as capillary action drew thesolder up into the via 3210,3310. In a non-liquidus or semi-liquidusstate, such as used for most variants of the tack and fuse processdescribed herein, the state into which the metals or alloys are drivenduring both the tack phase and fuse phase are such that the metal oralloy would be highly softened (i.e. have some material in a liquidstate) but not be sufficiently liquid to cause the chip to float or thevias 3210, 3310 to self center. Thus, some application of force (whetherexternally applied or resulting from the weight of the chip withoutexternal force application), will be necessary to get the metal or alloyinto the vias 3210, 3310.

Thereafter, a second heating to above another temperature higher thanthe “tack” temperature (the fuse phase of the tack and fuse process)will cause materials from each to inter-diffuse (in contrast with asolder which would enter and exit a liquidus state (i.e. melt andre-harden)).

The tack and fuse integration process is separated into two maincomponents: an “attach” or “tack” phase and a “fuse” phase. The tackphase makes a fairly homogeneous electrical connection between the pairsof contacts. The combination of forming a post and penetrationconnection with the tack process enables any surface oxide on any of thecontacts to be more easily broken through. This non-oxide inhibitedcontact approach allows for a simpler fuse process without the need forapplication of significant pressure. In the absence of the combinationof post and penetration and tack phase, the fuse process would requiresubstantially greater pressure in order to allow the contacts to breakthrough the oxides that would form at the surface of the rigid andmalleable materials during the high-temperature portion of the tackprocess, or in the early stages of the fuse process. By getting beyondthat oxide ‘crust’ at the initiation of the tack phase, the fuse phasecan occur at substantially lower pressure, in some cases at no addedpressure beyond the weight of the chip itself.

At this point, a further terminology convention is introduced. It shouldbe understood that, as set forth herein, the terms “daughter” and“mother” are used, for simplicity, to generally connote whether theparticular contact on a wafer being discussed is a rigid or malleablecontact, with the term “mother” being associated with a rigid contactand the term “daughter” being associated with a malleable contact.Although shown fairly consistently one way herein, it is important tonote that the terms “mother” and “daughter” are arbitrarily applied.Individual contacts on each wafer can be either a rigid or malleablecontact as long as the corresponding contact on the other wafer to whichit will be joined is of the opposite type. Thus, a given wafer surfacecan exclusively have one or the other type of contact or, in somevariants, a single wafer side can have a mixing of both types. However,mixing of types on a single surface can be problematic for someapplications and, in those applications where it is used, mixing oftypes on a single surface can complicate the processing unless thedifferent types are not intermixed in one area but rather are confinedto discrete areas such that large areas will contain only one type ofcontact allowing areas that will contain the other type to be easilyprotected when certain processing steps are carried out.

During the attach or tack phase of the process, the “mother” wafer ispopulated with “daughter” chips. The mother wafer is maintained at asingle temperature (i.e. the mother wafer is maintained as an isothermalsubstrate during this attach process). The isothermal temperature forthe mother wafer can be as low as room temperature, although raising thetemperature above room temperature speeds up this phase of the process.However, the isothermal temperature is kept below the melting point ofthe malleable material on the daughter chip as well as the tack or thefuse temperatures. Thus, the tack process can be done by heating eachsmall daughter chip to a higher temperature than the mother wafer sothat, when the two chips are brought into contact and a post andpenetration connection occurs, the interface for just that chip reachesor slightly exceeds the appropriate “tack” temperature. In general, forthe primary materials discussed herein, the tack temperature would bebetween about 190° C. and about 320° C., with a typical nominal tacktemperature of about 270° C. In this manner, the other chips on themother wafer are not heated beyond the point where their contacts seethe elevated temperature, a condition which could change the performanceof the contact and cause some contacts to see much longer times atelevated temperatures than others, potentially causing non-uniformity ofperformance.

The tack or attach process can be performed by, for example, keeping themother wafer at an isothermal temperature below the malleabletemperature, bringing the daughter chip to the mother chip, heated tobelow the malleable temperature, making contact between the two chips,and quickly ramping the daughter chip temperature to the appropriatetack temperature. Thus, once the daughter chip is attached to the motherwafer, the machinery that aligns the parts (and imparts heat to thedaughter chip) releases the daughter chip after applying only enoughpressure to allow some contact between the parts, for example less than2 g/contact pair, and preferably less than 1 g/contact pair.

After release, the cap/adhesion layer (or malleable layer if themalleable material also performs the function of the cap/adhesion layer)on the daughter chip becomes less soft under the decreased temperaturewhich would be dominated by the mother chip at that point. For example,with the baseline materials described herein, the mother chip/wafersubstrate can be held at between about 230° C. to 250° C., the daughterchip can be brought to the mother chip at a nominal temperature of about270° C. and quickly ramped, after contact, to about 310° C. to 330° C.The order of the contacting relative to the quick ramp (i.e. whether ithappens before or after contact with the mother wafer) can be changed.Notably, we have found that by bringing the chips into contact first andthen ramping up the temperature, oxide formation on the surface of themalleable material can be minimized, thus allowing a more reproduciblecontact. Advantageously, through use of the malleable material, theamount of pressure per contact pair can be low. We have used appliedpressures ranging from about 0.001 g to about 10 g per contact pairalthough lower bounds are possible, the lowest being the effect ofgravity on the mass of the chip itself (i.e. its weight).

In addition, as noted above, for the tack process, daughter wafertemperatures as low as room temperature can be used if sufficientpressure is applied to break through any surface oxides. In this manner,the entire mother wafer can be populated with daughter chips before anytack phase is started. Even using this approach, due to the speed inwhich the process can occur, the mother wafer does not have time to beheated to any substantial degree. Thus the attachment of a seconddaughter chip to a mother wafer, even within 100 microns of the firstchip in the horizontal or vertical direction does not soften thecap/adhesion layer of the first chip to affect its alignment to anymeaningful or substantial degree.

Advantageously, the tack and fuse processes are both typicallynon-liquidus process. This means that the process is done so that themalleable material becomes softened significantly but does not becomecompletely liquidus during either the tack or fuse processes. This isbecause if the malleable material were to become liquidus, there wouldbe significant risk that the resultant liquid would run and short outadjacent contacts. By keeping the materials non-liquidus, far greatercontact density can be achieved. However, in some variants asemi-liquidus state is allowable (i.e. some, but significantly less thanall, of the malleable material may briefly become liquidus). However,those variants generally have the common characteristic of using someother type of containment mechanism to prevent the liquidus malleablematerial from having an adverse effect by constraining it to a definedarea to avoid the possibility of shorting an adjacent contact, forexample, by ensuring that the pad onto which the malleable material isapplied is surrounded or covered on its periphery by a non-metallicsubstance into which the malleable material can not easily interdiffuse.

In some variants, in conjunction with the “tack” phase of the tack andfuse process, it may be desirable to cap the malleable material (forexample, Au/Sn alloy) with an adhesion layer (for example, Sn) whichwill melt at lower temperature to help speed-up the tack time to enhancethroughput. In addition, in some variants, it may be desirable to keepthe mother wafer at an isothermal temperature of the highest possibletemperature below the fuse temperature such that no degradation of abond occurs if the chip sits at that temperature for extended timesunder non-controlled environmental conditions (i.e. the time it couldtake to populate a whole wafer in volume). We typically use 230° C.although the temperature could be higher to speed up the process. Theimpact of the lower temperature is an alteration of the temperature andpressure profile of the penetration phase of the attachment. Moreover,in order to speed up the process, it is desirable to have the serialprocesses of the tack phase (i.e. place and heat) occur as quickly aspossible. A further aspect to note is that, in some variants, the longerthe time spent in the tack phase, the less critical the fuse phase isfor yield, etc. For example, at one extreme, on an FC150 (forsilicon-to-silicon), we had a tack phase lasting for about 1 minute andthere was no fuse phase needed. This is summarized in FIG. 45.

At the other extreme, in high volume cases, alignment would typicallytake about 1 second, the tack phase would take 2 to 4 seconds before thefuse phase. Thus, in those variants the environment for transport fromtack machine to fuse phase can be important for getting good contacts.

Between these two extremes is a continuum of process options where thetradeoff is among 1) throughput, 2) complexity and 3) criticality of thefuse process. For very fast tack processes, the 2 to 4 second variety,the chips may be held lightly, thereby possibly requiring a reducingenvironment during the fuse phase or even require applied pressure of amore substantial amount during fuse. At the other end of the spectrum,the 1 minute tack process done at higher pressure and temperature, thetack itself can do a relatively good job of preliminary “fusing” of thechips. In this case the subsequent “fuse” process may merely be acontact anneal coupled with a method to ensure consistency across thewafer, and it may not require any specific environment (or pressure, ifthe planarity of the chip placement during ‘tack’ is adequate). Thiscontinuum is illustrated in FIG. 46.

An important advantage to the tack phase is that, because electricalconnections are non-final and easily undoable, testing of the chips canbe performed after the tack process is complete but before the fuseprocess begins. This allows for testing and identification of bad diesboth before and after this first phase of hybridization (i.e. todetermine whether an individual chip that was performing beforehybridization to another chip has been adversely affected by thehybridization process or is ineffective in combination with the chip towhich it was attached. Moreover, the testing can be done, in the case ofdiced daughter chips being populated onto an undiced mother wafer,before the mother wafer is sawn or diced.

A further important advantage to use of the tack phase is that, becausethe chips are not combined very strongly, it is possible to easily takeapart the joined chips if subsequent testing resulted in a determinationthat one of the joined chips was nonperforming. Separation of two chipsfrom each other can be performed by using heat or pressure or both incombination. In the case of individually diced daughter chips beingpopulated onto an unsawn or undiced mother waver, if a daughter chip wasthe problem, another “known-good” daughter chip could then be attachedto the mother wafer. If the particular mother wafer chip was bad, itcould be noted as such so that no further daughters would be attachedand it could easily be identified immediately following dicing of thewafer, in both cases significantly increasing overall yield. Inaddition, if the mother chip was the one that was non-functional, theremoved daughter chip could be saved for a future mother chip attach,again increasing yield and potentially decreasing cost. For example, saythe malleable contact of the daughter wafers were a gold-tin orgold-silver-tin alloy and the malleable cap was tin. The tin could beattached at low temperature and, if thin enough, would not spread likethick solder balls. If a daughter chips tested bad, the individual chipon the mother wafer could be heated and pulled apart and anotherdaughter chip attached. Once all of the daughter chips were attached andthe combinations tested good, the whole mother wafer could be fusedtogether.

Thus, the tack and fuse approach permits one only integrate known-gooddies. In addition, this approach significantly reduces the riskassociated with stacking of multiple dies because, a single bad chipdoes not require scrapping the entire stack. For chips or stacked unitsthat are expensive, this is a significantly valuable advantage in and ofitself.

In addition, the tack and fuse phases provide the additional advantagesof being low pressure processes. The force used for the both the tackand fuse phases are typically less than 2 g/contact pair for contacts ona 50 micron pitch or less. At the fuse phase, we have proven use offorces of 0.8 g/contact pair to 0.001 g/contact pair. For a 400 contactchip we used 300 grams and for a 10,000 contact chip we also used 300grams giving a range of 0.75 g to 0.03 g per contact pair; With largernumbers of contacts, e.g. 900,000, we have used use 3 Kg giving 0.003g/contact pair. Ideally, for speed purposes, the approach uses the leastpossible force and, under proper circumstances, no force at all beyondthe force imparted by gravity on the chip (i.e. the weight of the chip)itself.

Conventional processes for attaching dies together require attachmentstrengths of several grams to tens of grams per contact pair. Thiscauses enormous stress on each of the semiconductor chips, often leadingto damage or cracking. Thus, the described approach dramatically reducesor avoids imparting the levels of stress found with conventionalapproaches.

Moreover, more conventional approaches are not compatible with the smallsize dimensions that we can employ. Typical solder processes areliquidus processes and are not compatible with such small sizes andpitches nor are the pressures of several grams per contact pair. Inother words, at the typical 5 g/contact pair, a chip with 10,000contacts of 1 cm×1 cm would require 50 Kg to attach. In contrast, thepressure during the fuse portion of the process is typically less thanor equal to the pressure used in the attach process. For example, usingthe fuse process described herein, the 10,000 contact chip that required300 grams of pressure during the tack phase only required 9 grams duringthe fuse phase of the process.

In addition, the use of little to no pressure makes multiplereflows/multi-high stacks practical: In order to create stacks multiplechips high the amount of pressure on the chips should be low to preventchipping, yield loss, the possibility of disconnecting lower chips inthe stack, etc. during the fusion of chips above it, particularly, ifsome chips on the mother wafer might receive taller daughter chip stacksthan others. If substantial pressure were needed to be put on the motherwafer and the daughter chips during the fuse process, and some of themother chips had far larger stacks than others, a complex set of toolingcould be required in order to maintain the correct pressure on eachchip. In contrast, with our approach which requires only light or noexternal pressure, this can be avoided, making multiple high chips farmore practical and allowing for stack differentials of double height ormore.

A further advantage to variants of the approaches described herein ishigh strength following completion of the fuse process. The strength ofthe contacts after the fuse process is typically over several hundredKilograms per square centimeter with 1000 kg/cm2 being typical. Ofcourse, as a result, once the fuse process has been completed, therework potential is dramatically reduced.

Representative non-limiting example malleable materials include Gold-Tin(Au/Sn) and Silver-Tin (Ag/Sn) as well as others also identified herein.At this point it should be noted that the term “post” is one ofconvenience used simply to denote rigidity. It is not intended to in anyway limit or mandate size, shape or geometry. Thus, as described belowand in the “Specific Variants” section, the “post” could be wider thanit is tall or have any cross sectional profile sufficient to accomplishthe intended purpose described herein. Moreover, the “post” can becreated as part of the processes described herein, for example, bythinning the back of a wafer without thinning the metallization or metalcontact, or it can be created separately and attached to, or insertedinto, a wafer thereafter.

Where stacking is involved, a given electrical connection through awafer can have a rigid contact on one end and a malleable contact on theother. In such cases, for simplicity herein, once a wafer has beendesignated “mother” or “daughter” that term will be retained even if,for a subsequent stacking layer, the “daughter” wafer should properly bedesignated “mother” because the contact at issue is now a rigid contactfor purposes of forming a post and penetration connection. For furtherclarity, a subsequent “daughter” wafer connecting to that other end willbe referred to as a “daughter wafer 2.”

An example of this approach is illustrated in FIGS. 47 and 48. In FIGS.47A and 48A, the complementary contacts 4702, 4704, 4802, 4804 on tworespective chips 4706, 4708, 4806, 4808 are shown. For simplicity,neither the electrical connections 4710, 4810 nor other elements, ifany, beyond the immediate vicinity of the contacts 4702, 4704, 4802,4804 are shown.

As shown in FIGS. 47A and 48A, one of the contacts 4704, 4804 is therigid contact and the other contact 4702, 4802 is the malleable contact.FIGS. 47B and 48B each shows the respective contacts 4702, 4704, 4802,4804 at the point where they have been brought into contact with eachother. By application of pressure before or during the tack phase, therigid contact 4704, 4804 penetrates the malleable contact 4702, 4802.FIGS. 47C and 48C shows the contacts following the fuse phase in whichthe two materials have now interdiffused, forming a high-strength bondbetween the two.

In addition, it is worthy of note that the “width” of the malleablecontact can be “minimal” in that it is about the same width as ornarrower than the contact (prior to joining) to which it will beconnected or it could be an “extended” contact in that its width extendswell beyond the minimal width. In examples above, FIG. 47 is an exampleinvolving “minimal” contacts and FIG. 48 is an example involving anextended.

In general, there are advantages to making the size of the malleablecontact slightly larger than the rigid contact, i.e. using an extendedcontact. By doing so, the malleable contact will envelope the rigidcontact and the alignment accuracy between the two chips duringintegration can be less because, in such cases, the rigid need onlypenetrate somewhere within the area of the malleable. As a result, agreater alignment offset can be accommodated. This is best understood byway of example through consideration of a malleable contact of circularcross section having a 12 micron diameter and a round rigid contact of adiameter from between 10 microns and 6 microns. With a rigid contacthaving a 10 micron diameter, an offset of 3 microns could cause the edgeof the rigid material to extend beyond the limit of the malleable. For arigid contact having a 6 micron diameter, a 3 micron offset would stillfit within the 12 micron diameter of the malleable contact material.Typically, the overall rigid contact will be less than 40 microns acrossat its widest point, and can be less than 25 microns, 15 microns or evenless than 10 microns across at its widest point. In addition, with thisapproach, the malleable should be at least as wide as the rigid andpreferably 20% or more wider. In addition, the post height can begreater than or less than its width, but will typically be wider than itis high.

Bearing the above basic description in mind, the approach can beextended to the variants described above by, for example, employing asuitably rigid material as one of the metalizing or conductive materialso that it can be used as the rigid contact and, by applying a secondmore malleable material to another portion of the metalizing orconductive material so that it can serve as the malleable contact forpurposes of attaching to other components or stacking

FIG. 49 illustrates a portion of a stack of semiconductor chips, similarto that of FIG. 41, each having through-chip connections created inaccordance with one of the implementations described above. For purposesof simplicity, the through-chip connections are not shown as connectedto any device on the respective chip through which they pass because theexistence or not of such a connection is not necessary for understandingthe post and penetration approach.

As shown in FIG. 49, to facilitate connection of each chip to the chipabove and/or below, optional contacts 4902, 4904 have been added to thetop and bottom of the metalizing 2412 and conductor 2802. As notedabove, the metalizing or metal contact can be directly used. Whereoptional contacts 4902, 4904 are added, depending upon the particularimplementation, the contacts 4902, 4904 can be any prior art types,simple conventional contact pads, non-post and penetration contactsformed as described herein, or post and penetration contacts asdescribed herein.

Thus, it will be appreciated that by using the post and penetrationapproach of FIG. 49, stacking can be more easily performed. FIG. 44illustrates a portion of the simplified stack of the chips shown in FIG.49 stacked using the post and penetration approach.

In addition, variants of certain of the implementations described abovecan be created to facilitate use of the post and penetration contactapproach. For example, in implementations similar to the one shown inFIG. 15 (i.e. any one where the metalizing at the bottom of the trenchis not completely removed) except that the bonding substance 1102 andthe finishing substance 1302 are not present, the metalizing 1502 can beused as one of the rigid or malleable contacts and a second materialinserted into the void can serve as the opposite contact (i.e. rigid ifthe metalizing is “malleable” or malleable if the metalizing is“rigid”). In such an implementation, such as shown in FIG. 51, the voidwithin the metalization can be filled, for example, by a pre-formed post5102 inserted at the appropriate point in the process. Alternatively,the metalizing 1502 and the second material could be the same materialsif the malleable material is applied to the end that will contactanother “rigid” material to form the bond.

FIG. 52 illustrates, in simplified form, the chip of FIG. 51 after ithas been hybridized to another electronic chip 5200 having, for purposesof example, drive and control circuitry 5202 for controlling the laser5104 shown on the chip of FIG. 51. The electronic chip also contains apost 5204 that is rigid relative to the metalizing material 1504 usedfor the chip of FIG. 51. Thus, as a result of bringing the two chipstogether under suitable conditions, a post and penetration connection5206 is formed, thereby electrically connecting the laser 5104 to thedrive and control circuitry 5202 on the electronic chip 5200.

FIG. 53 through FIG. 71 illustrate a simplified example variant of abasic contact formation and hybridization approach. For simplicity, theapproach is illustrated with respect to a pair of conventional chipsthat have been pre-processed (i.e. they contain both devices and theirassociated contacts and traces) but have not yet been diced intoindividual chips. As shown the chip in each figure labeled “a)” is adaughter chip which will have a contact rerouted from one IC pad toanother location in order to later be hybridized to the mother chip,labeled “b)” in each figure. Note that, although the processing is shownoccurring in parallel, this is only for purposes of understanding. Inpractice, the processing of either one could precede processing of theother, their processing could overlap in time, or it could occurconcurrently.

First, we start with a daughter wafer FIG. 53 a and a mother wafer FIG.53 b. The wafers are each fully formed chips in that each has multipledevices on it (not shown). As shown, the contacts 5302, 5304 on thedaughter wafer are on a pitch of between a 25 microns and 50 microns,although the same approach could be used for contacts on a much smallerpitch, as small as between 2 microns and 7 microns using currenttechnology. For purposes of illustration and understanding, the contacts5306, 5308, on the mother wafer are on a larger pitch than those 5302,5304 of the daughter wafer. The contacts 5302, 5304, 5306, 5308 areconventional aluminum IC pads that are accessed through the chip coverglass 5310, 5312.

Next, a thick dielectric layer 5402, 5404 is deposited on the chips(FIG. 54 a, FIG. 54 b). Then, through photolithographic patterning, thearea above the contacts through which access will occur is opened up(FIG. 55 a, FIG. 55 b).

Then, the dielectric is etched through to provide access to the ICcontact pads (FIG. 56 a, FIG. 56 b). Thereafter, the photolith isstripped away (FIG. 57 a, FIG. 57 b).

Alternatively, the thick dielectric layer 5402, 5404 could be a thickphotoresist layer (FIG. 54 a, FIG. 54 b). In such a case, the thicklayer 5402, 5404 would be removed by stripping of the photoresist (FIG.57 a, FIG. 57 b).

Next, a seed layer is deposited on the wafer to facilitate a laterplating process (FIG. 58 a, FIG. 58 b).

Then, a dielectric layer is applied (FIG. 59 a, FIG. 59 b) and aphotolithographic patterning is used to define and control the locationswhere the plating will occur (FIG. 60 a, FIG. 60 b).

Thereafter, the wafer is plated until the desired amount of metal ispresent (FIG. 61 a, FIG. 61 b).

The dielectric is then removed, leaving “standoffs” or elevated contacts(FIG. 62 a, FIG. 62 b).

As an aside, in general, both the mother wafer and daughter wafer canhave standoffs. On the daughter wafer, the purpose of the rigidstructure is to provide a standoff to allow the overall contact toaccommodate non-planarity of the two chips so that the contact can bemade reliably and it may not be needed in some cases. On Mother Wafer,the purpose of the rigid structure is both as a standoff and as the postwhich can penetrate into the malleable material on the daughter wafer.In addition, standoffs can also be used to allow for height differencesbetween the top IC cover glass and the IC pads so some contacts can reston top of the glass and others on top of the pads.

Returning to the process flow, a further etch is performed in order toremove unwanted seed layer (FIG. 63 a, FIG. 63 b). As shown in FIG. 63a, by leaving seed layer material on the daughter wafer between one ofthe contacts and the new standoff/contact, rerouting of that originalcontact is complete. Optionally, an additional or alternative reroutelayer could be placed prior to completion of the process or after theprocess is complete. In addition, it may be desirable to plate thereroute layer thicker in certain regions than others prior to etching toremove the seed layer.

Next, a barrier layer is applied to the contacts on the daughter (FIG.64 a), in this case nickel, to act as a barrier against metal diffusinginto the IC pads 5302, 5304, 5306, 5308 or damaging of the individualchip through infiltration of metal under the cover glass 5310, 5312 ofthe chip. Optionally, a cap layer 6402, 6404, in this case gold, isdeposited on top of the barrier, to also prevent unwanted diffusionduring the joining process, particularly when the approach is to be usedin a tack and fuse joining process involving post and penetrationcontacts. A cap is also applied to mother wafer (FIG. 64). At thispoint, the rigid contact on the mother wafer is complete.

Again, a dielectric 6502 is applied to the daughter wafer (FIG. 65 a)and, through photolithographic patterning, the area 6602, 6604 above thestandoff contacts 6606, 6608 is opened up (FIG. 66 a).

Then, the malleable contacts 6702, 6704 are built up on the standoff(FIG. 67 a) and the dielectric is removed, leaving a fully formedmalleable contact (FIG. 68 b).

The daughter wafer is then flipped and aligned with the mother waferphotolithographic patterning, the area above the contacts through whichaccess will occur is opened up (FIG. 69).

The two chips are then brought together under pressure so that the rigidcontact penetrates the malleable contact (FIG. 70).

Finally, the two chips undergo the fuse phase, leaving the two chipspermanently attached to each other (FIG. 71). Note that, as a result ofthis process, the chips will be less than 10 microns apart, nominallyless than 5 microns apart measured between the top of the rigid post andthe top of the contact to which it is connected on the other wafer. Ifthe wafers are, for these purposes, perfectly flat this would also bethe distance between the two wafers, if not, the topology of the waferscould cause this distance to be greater or less.

FIG. 72 through FIG. 87 illustrate an alternative simplified processvariant for contact creation on a daughter (FIG. 72 a) and mother wafer(FIG. 72 b) followed by hybridization of two chips together. As with thepreceding example, we start out with two wafers. As shown in FIGS. 72 aand 72 b, the cover glass openings above the contact pads for the IC arebetween about 8 microns and 14 microns, although such openings could beon the order of 4 microns, and in some cases could be as small as 1micron or less. Advantageously, through use of one or more processesdescribed herein, these smaller size openings can be dealt with asreadily as larger size openings.

In addition, as shown, the spacing of the pads on the daughter wafer(FIG. 72 a) are on a typical 25 micron to 50 micron pitch. However, heretoo, the approaches described herein can readily be used with contactsnominally on a 7 micron pitch and could even be used with contacts on a2 micron pitch or less.

This variant proceeds as follows. First a thick dielectric is applied tothe wafers (FIG. 73). Then photolithographic patterning is done todefine the area above the contacts through which access will occur (FIG.74). Next, the dielectric is etched away above the contacts (FIG. 75 a),the photolith is stripped from the mother wafer (FIG. 76 b), and thereroute path is formed (FIG. 77).

The exposed areas above the contact and reroute route on the daughterwafer is metalized with a barrier layer (FIG. 78 a) and a seed layerapplied to the mother wafer (FIG. 78 b). Optionally, a barrier could beapplied to the mother wafer to protect its IC pad (not shown).

The photolith is then stripped from the daughter wafer (FIG. 79 a). Newphotolithographic patterning is done to define the area where thecontacts will be built up (FIG. 80).

The malleable contacts are the created on the daughter wafer bydepositing the appropriate materials, in this case, a gold-tin (Au/Sn)alloy topped by a discrete layer of tin (Sn) in turn topped by a layerof gold (Au) (FIG. 81 a) and the rigid contact is formed on the motherwafer by plating the exposed seed layer with copper (FIG. 81 b).

The photolith is then stripped off of both the daughter and motherwafers (FIG. 82).

Then, the unwanted remaining exposed seed layer is removed from themother wafer (FIG. 83).

Finally, a cap (optionally preceded by a barrier) is applied to themother wafer contacts to prevent oxidation (an oxide cap) (FIG. 84 b).

As with previously described variants, the wafers are then aligned (FIG.85), brought together and tacked (FIG. 86), and, at some pointthereafter, fused (FIG. 87).

Having described several variants in more cursory overview, anadditional variant will now be presented that includes further detailsof various steps in the process. It should be understood, however, thatthose details are equally applicable to the preceding variant as well asthe other variants described herein.

FIG. 88 through FIG. 91 and FIG. 95 through FIG. 102 illustrate, insimplified parallel form, two further example variant approaches forforming what will later become a rigid post on the back side of adaughter wafer. The “daughter” reference being appropriate because thealuminum IC pad will become a malleable contact and it will be joined toa rigid post on another “mother” wafer even though the back side contactwill be a “mother-type” contact.

Moreover, although illustrated in parallel form for some variants, theprocessing described herein need not be done in parallel and couldrepresent different variants occurring on the same wafer or at differenttimes on different wafers.

This example begins with the wafers 8800, 8802 respectively shown inFIG. 88 a and FIG. 88 b and involves preparation for a contact reroute,i.e. where the via will not be aligned with the pad on the surface ofthe wafer (FIGS. 88 a through 99 a) and the second example has norerouting of the contact so the via will be aligned with the pad (FIGS.88 b through 99 b). Moreover, the relative difference in widths of thetwo vias to be created is intended to illustrate that different widthvias can be used on a single wafer or chip, and that the via widths canbe different from the width of the pads on the chip (i.e. they can bethe same width, wider or narrower than the pads. Again, it is noted thatthe figures are neither to scale nor necessarily in the correctproportions.

First, a thick dielectric layer 8902, 8904 is applied to the wafers8800, 8802, in this case silicon wafers having aluminum IC pad contacts8804, 8806 (FIG. 89 a, FIG. 89 b). This thick dielectric layer serves toprotect the chip and to act as a stop region for later in the processwhen the top surface is thinned after electroplating. Note that, inlater steps, if the vias are a) not filled by electroplating or b)filled in a way that allows for removal of excess material deposited onthe surface of the wafer during the via metal fill process other than bythinning (i.e. by etching or by photolithographic liftoff) then thisstep can be optional. Suitable for thick dielectric deposition materialsinclude, for example, but are not limited to: TEOS, Oxides, Nitrides,Spin-on Glass, polyimide, BCB, other polymers or epoxies, thickphotoresist layers, etc. (if photosensitive polyimide or thickphotoresist is used then, in some variants, a separate photoresistdeposition step is not needed in the next step).

Next, a photolith layer is applied and patterned to protect the waferfrom etching in undesired places (FIG. 90). This step defines thelocation for the vias that will be created.

Then, an etch is performed on the wafer (FIG. 91) through the dielectricand into the semiconductor and substrate to create a via 9102 in thereroute case (FIG. 91 a), into the wafer at the location where thererouted contact will be, and in the conventional case (FIG. 91 b), thevia 9104 goes through the dielectric, the aluminum IC pad contact 8806and into the wafer. It should be noted here that the desired depth isone which, as will be evident from later figures, allows for exposure ofthe “post” formed by the process through thinning of the back side ofthe wafer. Typically, this depth will be about 75 microns. Having thisvia depth is not critical but rather, under the assumption that therecould be thousands or even millions of contacts per square centimeter,such a depth is to permit the entire daughter wafer to be handled in awafer-scale fashion during subsequent processing steps with good yieldand without the need for a carrier wafer. Alternatively, the via can goall the way through the wafer. In those through-wafer variants, thesteps to be described below, of thinning and etching of the back side toexpose the metal in the via, may be unnecessary. Moreover, although thevia illustrated in this example has a single conductor, the sameapproach is applicable for coaxial or triaxial conductors throughstraightforward incorporation of those creation steps into this process.

At this point it is worth emphasizing certain attributes and advantagesresulting from use of the illustrated process in certainimplementations. Attributes and advantages arising from the approachinclude the fact that etching and creation of the vias can occur beforehybridization (chip-to-chip, chip-to-wafer, or wafer-to-wafer). In otherwords, it is easily performed before the chip, die or wafer is joined toanother element. Moreover, this approach allows for etching the viasfrom the device (i.e. active) side of a previously made and usableelectronic chips. The approach can be used virtually anywhere on thechip where there is no circuitry directly in the path of the etch thatcan not be sacrificed. Thus, vias formed using the approach can bealigned with pads, or not, as desired. Still further, by making the viasover the pad and/or, in some cases, making the vias much smaller thanthe pad, particularly in areas of the chip where there is little or nocircuitry, loss of “real estate” on the IC for circuitry can beminimized.

With respect to via formation, in some cases it may be desirable to havesloping vias in order to ensure subsequent material depositionadequately coats the sidewalls. In such cases, the slope can be atypical nominal slope of about 88 degrees off of a perpendicular to thevertical axis of the via (i.e. the via width will narrow slightly withincreasing depth). A cross sectional photograph of one sloping viasexample is shown in FIG. 92.

Typically, via depths of 75 microns or greater are used having widths 5microns or more. The vias of FIG. 92 have a diameter of 20 microns and adepth of about 150 microns. FIG. 93 is a photograph of an example via(already filled) having a depth of 100 microns and a diameter of 20microns. Widths as small as 0.1 micron can suffice, as can shallowerdepths (e.g. down to depths of only 5 microns). However, use of smallerthan 0.1 micron width vias can reduce the integrity of the final bondthat will be formed. Similarly, use of depths of shallower than 5microns can require the wafer to be thinned to such an extent thatunderlying circuitry (if any) could be damaged. At present, the typicalrange is 75 to 150 microns deep and 5 to 25 microns wide, in order toobtain sufficient manufacturing yields with equipment reasonablycommercially available. Of course, depths and widths outside that rangeare possible for specific applications. For example, the vias could goas deep as 300 microns and, in some cases, completely through the wafer,although current commercially available equipment does not presentlyhave sufficient consistency to allow for an acceptable yield at thosegreater depths involving the number and density of vias presentlycontemplated for large commercial manufacturing. However, it is expectedthat advances in such equipment should reduce or remove this limitationover time, rendering the approaches viable at such depths, numbers anddensities with little to no modification of the approaches describedherein.

Optionally, the bottom of a via can be formed so as to have a point.This is a way we have used to ensure a strong rigid post, goodpenetration of the rigid material into the malleable material, and astrong final contact (to maximize surface contact between the rigid andmalleable materials). In order to do this we have been used an approachwhere the rigid post is made in a pyramid-type shape (or a pyramid ontop of a cylinder) where the base of the post is as wide as theunderlying contact (maximizing the strength of the attachment of thepost to the contact) while the top is tapered to be much smaller thanthe contact, allowing the alignment relative size factor to be achieved.This variant has the advantage that it will result in formation of apointed post and thus, when used for a post and penetration connection,will allow penetration similar to that of a later-formed pyramid-typeprofile of a rigid post. FIG. 94 is a photograph, in cross section, of achip having pointed vias formed therein.

Next, the photoresist is stripped (FIG. 95) and a dielectric orinsulating layer is applied to the exposed via surface (not shown) toprevent the metal in the via from electrically shorting to any of thecircuits in the semiconductor. The thickness of this layer willtypically be between about 2000 Angstrom and 1 micron thick. However, ifthe particular application involves balancing the coefficient of thermalexpansion or reducing the capacitance of the via (where either isimportant or critical) the layer could be thicker. Example insulatingmaterials that can be used include TEOS (oxide), other oxides, nitrides,polymers, CVD diamond, etc.

A metal barrier layer is then deposited on the dielectric, (FIG. 96).The barrier layer acts to prevent metal migration to the insulator andthe semiconductor. All barrier materials described herein are suitablefor this step, but for purposes of this example, the illustrated barrieris titanium-tungsten (TiW).

Next, a plating “seed” layer is applied if metal is to be plated in theparticular variant (FIG. 97). The seed layer is used as a basis forelectroplating of the via. A copper seed layer is good because it is agood electrical and thermal conductor, it is prevalent in industrytoday, and it is very easy to work with in standard semiconductor andpackaging lines. However, any of the materials as described herein inconjunction with the rigid material and/or the seed layer for the rigidmaterial can be used. If the via is to be filled by a method other thanelectroplating, then this seed might only cover the vias themselvesrather than a larger fraction of the wafer or it might be non-existent.For example, if the via will be filled by CVD or evaporation, then therewould be no need for a seed layer).

Both the barrier and seed layer are typically deposited by sputtering orphysical vapor deposition (“PVD”), but electroless plating can be usedsince, for some implementations, electroless plating will providesignificant advantages over sputtering or PVD. The via is then(typically completely) filled with a metal or other conductor to formthe electrical conduit through the wafer (FIG. 98). Typically the fillmaterial will be copper for a plating approach. However, other materialscan be used including any of the other materials described herein assuitable rigid or malleable materials. Note that the via doesn't have tobe completely filled with conductor if a simple electrical connection isneeded and good thermal conductivity or low electrical resistivity isnot needed. In these cases, the remainder of the via can be optionallyfilled with another material such as an oxide or epoxy. The entire viashould typically be filled with some type of material because if air istrapped in a void in the via when the chip is packaged and sealed,temperature cycling during operation can cause the chip to fail due toexpansion and contraction of the air. Completely filling with metalallows the lowest resistance and best thermal conducting contact.Moreover, where larger diameter vias completely filled with metal areused, that metal can assist with thermal transfer through the wafer.

As shown in FIG. 98, the via is filled by plating the seed layer usingan electroplating process. Optionally, if the plating process iscompleted and a void remains within the center of the plated material,the void can be filled by a filler material such as an oxide, furthermetal, a solder, or some other material as appropriate for theapplication.

Advantageously, if the via is filled with the same material as the rigidmaterial for the mother wafer or the same material as the malleablematerial for the daughter wafer, stacking advantages can be achieved.Alternatively the via could be filled with the same material as themalleable material if the mating contact on the chip to which it will beattached has a rigid material on it.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 98 b where the via is aligned with the pad,filling the via with a conductor inherently allows the via to makecontact with the pad.

Where the particular wafer is to be joined to another wafer, as isexpected for most implementations, it is important that the constructionof the barrier and the via filling material of a daughter wafer followthe same guidelines as the barrier and rigid materials for a motherwafer so that when the daughter chip is hybridized to the mother wafer,it performs in the same way that the mother wafer would.

Returning to the process flow, as a result of the plating in theprevious step, a large amount of conductor is deposited on top of thewafer and needs to be removed. This can be achieved through lapping,polishing or chemical-mechanical processing (“CMP”). This thinningoccurs down into the thick dielectric that was deposited in the firststep. The actual thickness used for the dielectric applied as the firststep is chosen so as to give a margin of error to this lapping step.This step can be unnecessary if the conductor filling the via is notdeposited by electroplating. As shown, a chemical mechanical process(“CMP”) is then used to remove the excess plating material andunderlying seed layer down to, and slightly into, the surface dielectriclayer (FIG. 99).

Next, a photolithographic etching process is again used to assist inproviding access to the wafer's IC pad contacts 8804, 8806 from the topof the wafer by application of a photoresist (FIG. 100), and thenetching the exposed dielectric 10002 (FIG. 101). If the only contactneeded is from the pad to the via itself (FIG. 101 b) and no contactwill be needed between that same pad and the mother chip for aparticular pad, then that particular pad could forego this step (i.e.that pad could remain covered by the photoresist). In an alternativevariant, the photolithography can be performed so that the connection tothe IC contact is made at the same time as either the seed layer isdeposited (and could functionally be part of the seed layer) or duringthe plating or filling of he via. In such variants, thisphotolithographic step could be unnecessary.

Thereafter the photoresist is stripped away and the wafer is cleaned,leaving a completely formed post within the daughter wafer (FIG. 102).

At this point, it is presumed that the wafer will be further preparedfor hybridization to another element, such as another chip, a die, or awafer (i.e. the approach is equally to all permutations ofhybridization: chip-to chip, chip-to die, chip-to-wafer, die-to-die,die-to-chip, die-to-wafer, and wafer-to-wafer). This further processingis illustrated in simplified, parallel form in FIG. 103 through FIG. 125and begins with the daughter wafers as was shown in FIG. 102. Inaddition, for purposes of understanding, the process further illustratesprocessing that is performed on the wafer that would serve as a“mother-type” contact element.

The process proceeds as follows. First, a dielectric layer is applied tothe mother wafer except over the IC contact pads. (FIG. 103 b), thedielectric layer already being present on the daughter wafer (FIG. 102a, FIG. 102 b).

Next, a barrier layer is deposited on the daughter wafer (FIG. 104 a) apart of which, in the case of the rerouted contact, will ultimatelybecome the electrical connection between the original IC contact and thepre-formed post. Use of a barrier is advantageous because it preventsthe malleable material from later interacting with either the IC pads orthe rigid or standoff metals.

As shown, a barrier material, for example, Ni/Au, Ti/Pd/Au or Ti/Pt/Auto name a few, is deposited on the daughter wafer via sputtering. Inaddition, this barrier can generally be used as an under bump metal(“UBM”) and for rerouting that does not require seed removal. This layeris typically put down using either a sputtering and/or evaporativeprocess or an electroless plating optionally combined with anelectroplating process for the upper layers.

In addition, as shown, a seed layer is deposited on the mother wafer(FIG. 104 b) through use of, for example, electroless plating ordeposition techniques. As shown, the mother wafer has TiW+Cu applied,which is used as both as UBM and the seed for electroplating the rigidcontact on the mother wafer. The use of copper on top allows for easiercopper electroplating and subsequent rigid post formation. The UBM onthe mother wafer can, in some implementations, double as the seed layerfor rigid member electroplating, reroute, or act as an RF shield betweenwafers (although patterning for such would happen on an etch step, notduring deposition at this point).

Optionally, and alternatively, the barrier and seed layers could havethe same constituents. In such cases, the single material can functionas both layers.

As shown in FIG. 104, the barrier is put over the whole wafer. This isso that a subsequent electroplating step can be performed. After suchelectroplating, however, the seed and barrier need to be removed fromthe areas where no contacts exist so that the various contacts do notremain electrically shorted together (unless expressly desirable forother reasons not pertinent here, i.e. the barrier and seed can act asan electrical rerouting material among points).

If, the subsequent materials can be put down with a process other thanelectroplating, e.g. by sputtering or evaporation, then the mother wafersteps could alternatively include patterning with lithography around thepads, putting down the barrier metals, putting down the subsequentmetals and then doing a lift-off process. The net result of metals andbarriers being primarily around the pads or where a reroute is desiredwould be the same.

Then a lithographic process is performed on the daughter wafer to exposethe barrier material that is over the original contact (FIG. 105 a). Inaddition, the mother wafer is patterned, as illustrated in this case,with an undercut to provide an optional patterned contact having, forexample, a pointed, pyramidal, conical or mushroom-like shape (FIG. 105b). Alternatively, the mother wafer can be patterned so as to form someother contact shape in order to increase the available surface area ofthat contact or create a contact that is meaningfully smaller in crosssection than the corresponding malleable contact to which it willultimately be joined. By doing so, penetration can be enhanced becausethe applied force will be distributed over a smaller area.

This step, (FIG. 105 a, FIG. 105 b), defines where the subsequent metalplacement will occur. If this subsequent metal were to be deposited bymeans other than electroplating, this step would occur before thebarrier and seed deposition described above. Here it is assumedelectroplating will be used. Note again that the patterning of thelithography can be done to allow for the subsequent electroplatingand/or seed etch (or the subsequent liftoff process if electroplatingwere not used) to define a reroute layer.

Next, the daughter wafer is metalized by depositing appropriate metalson top of the exposed barrier (FIG. 106). Depending upon the particularimplementation, one or more of the following can be put on the daughterwafer: a standoff layer (if desired) to handle non-planarity of thewafers, the diffusion or malleable layer (which is what deforms andforms the contact), a cap or adhesion layer (if needed) to assistadhesion work during the tack phase and/or an oxidation barrier toprevent the adhesion/diffusion layer from oxidizing.

In addition, on the mother wafer, the void created by the lithographicprocess is filled by plating (electro- or electroless) the seed layerexposed by the lithographic process (FIG. 106). Depending upon theparticular implementation, a rigid material to be used for postformation for use in a post and penetration connection can also be addedat this stage.

FIG. 107 illustrates in greater detail, an example of the full platedpyramid-shaped contact for the mother wafer.

FIG. 108 shows an enlarged portion of an alternative variant of a motherwafer contact, in this case a profiled contact similar to that of FIG.107. With this optional variant (applicable to profiled and non profiledcontacts), before plating the metal (metalization) for the rigid post, abit of the metal of the semiconductor pad 10802 is etched down, creatingan undercut profile 10804 at the edge of the pad 10802. When the rigidmaterial 10902 is built up (FIG. 109), some of the rigid material 10902fills the undercut 10804. This additional fill acts as an anchor to helphold the rigid contact structure in place during stress applied duringfurther processing or stresses in operation due to thermal cycling. Asshown, the rigid material 10902 is nickel (Ni).

Upon completion of the metalization and/or plating, the photolith isthen stripped away, exposing the built up contacts on the daughter andmother wafers (FIG. 110). Note however, that if the barrier for themother contact will be electroplated, that step can optionally beperformed following the metalization but before stripping thephotoresist.

Next, a photolithographic process is employed to protect the built upcontacts or posts but allow for removal of the unwanted barrier and seedmaterials from, respectively, the daughter and mother wafers (FIG. 111).Note that this step can also be used to define and/or reroute contacts.Moreover, if other metals had not been electroplated, the order of thesesteps would be slightly different because a liftoff vs. a subsequentetch might have been used.

However, since the seed and barrier materials in this example wereelectroplated, an etch will be used. Thus, the unwanted seed and barriermaterial is etched away (FIG. 112). In a further alternative andoptional variant, only small amounts of barrier and seed are etchedaway, namely only as much as is necessary to prevent undesirableshorting of contacts together such that much of the surface of the waferwould remain covered and thus could be used as an EMI shield to preventnoise or undesirable coupling of signals between stacked chips,particularly if the remaining barrier/shield was attached to a groundplane.

Then the photolith is stripped away (FIG. 113).

At this point, the daughter wafer contains a functional rigid postsuitable for use in forming a post and penetration fit connection withanother wafer.

However, as will be evident from the description herein, in this caseprocessing of the mother wafer continues, specifically, throughelectroless plating of a malleable material (relative to the material onthe daughter wafer post) onto the contact (FIG. 114 b). Notably,although this step is illustrated as an electroless plating step, avariant of the approach can use an electroplating step. In such avariant, this portion of the process would either occur as a part of themetalization step or, alternatively, as an electroplating operationbetween steps the stripping of the photolith used in the metalizationstep and application of the protective photolith as described above. Ineither case however, the deposition of the barrier is important as itprevents the intermixing of the malleable and rigid materials andconstrains the malleable material between the rigid material and the ICpad on the daughter wafer).

At this point, the mother wafer now has a functional malleable post foruse in forming a post and penetration fit connection with another wafer.

However, in this example, it was pre-planned that a third chip was to bestacked on top of the daughter wafer, hence the formation of the postinto the wafer. Thus, further processing of the daughter wafer isrequired and proceeds as follows.

First, the front side (i.e. device and contact bearing side) of thedaughter wafer is protected by application of an appropriate removable,protective material to protect it from contamination during subsequentthinning (FIG. 15 a). This cover could consist of just a simplephotoresist or a dielectric or could consist of a rigid member such as aglass plate or another semiconductor wafer (a “carrier” wafer) attachedto the daughter wafer by such means as photoresist, wax, polymer, epoxy,other adhesive, etc. In some variants, a very thick layer is used (e.g.on the order of at least 50% of the thickness that the daughter waferwill be after thinning) In other variants a rigid carrier wafer can beused. In either case, the very thick layer will give the daughter waferextra strength so that it can be handled without breaking when thinned.

Next, the back side of the daughter wafer is thinned to expose the viafill material (e.g. the previously formed post) from the back side,typically until the daughter wafer is about 75 microns thick because thetypical vias go to about 75 microns deep. If the vias extend deeper,less thinning may be required. Depending upon the particularapplication, the thinning is specifically done until the post extendsabove the back side wafer surface or, in some applications, the postwill be flush with the back side surface (FIG. 116 a). However, wherethe bottom of the via is pointed, thinning should preferably not go downfar enough to remove a meaningful amount of the point at the bottom, ifhaving a pointed, pyramidal, conical or mushroom-like structure isdesired when the processing is finished.

In this case, because another post and penetration connection isdesired, an etch is performed on the back side so that the post extendsabove the surface (FIG. 117 a). This etching step serves two purposes.First, it removes some of the substrate around the vias, permitting thevias to extend beyond the surface (thus allowing it to act in exactlythe same fashion as a rigid post on a mother wafer. Second, it cleansthe surface of the contact allowing good adhesion of metals insubsequent processes.

Of course, for daughter wafers that have no through-connections, thethinning and etching steps will generally be unnecessary subject toother height considerations making it desirable nonetheless.

With variants that use a very thick layer or carrier on the front side,thinning can potentially far exceed the typical 75 micron finishedthickness. Indeed, with those variants, thinning result in a thicknessdown to about 10 microns. Moreover, if the carrier wafer will not beremoved after a tack and fuse process, the wafer can be thinned to about5 microns.

Note: In alternative implementations, the thinning steps can be doneafter hybridization between the mother and daughter. In such variants,the sequence of events would be electroless plating of the mothercontact, tack, fuse, thin the daughter, etch the back side of thedaughter to extend the contact above the back side surface, applicationof the barrier and cap to the back side contact, with the front sideprotection and removal of that protection being omitted as unnecessary.

A barrier and cap or cover layer is then deposited on the post (FIG.118). This barrier layer and cover is important for the protection ofthe via material. The barrier layer (and barrier cover) performs thesame exact function as the barrier material and barrier cover that isdeposited on top of the rigid post of a “true” mother wafer. It allowsthe malleable material to be pinned between the barrier material on thisnew post and the barrier layer on a subsequent 2nd daughter wafer (i.e.“Daughter Wafer 2”). As shown, the barrier and cap have been depositedusing an electroless plating process. In this example, 1 micron of Niand 0.3 microns of Au are used. The advantage of using electrolessplating is that it does not require any photolithographic steps on thebackside of the wafer, making the process simple to perform andcompatible with the use of thin wafers. This advantage becomes morevaluable for wafers thinned to the more extreme limits and to save costin the original dielectric etch, via etch and via fill steps of the viacreation process. Again, the specific materials that could be usedinclude any of the barrier materials referred to herein.

In addition, this barrier does not have to be deposited by electrolessplating. Instead, in some variants, electroplating can be used, if aseed layer is deposited on the back, plated and then etched in a similarfashion as described above. In other variants, a patterning andevaporative or sputter or other type of deposition process could be usedto apply these barrier layers. While requiring more steps on a thinwafer, these alternate approaches have the advantage of being able toalso define a reroute layer, shield or ground plane on the back of thewafer either through the etching of the seed layer in an electroplatedprocess flow or through the liftoff process in a deposited metal processflow. Then the protective layer is removed from the front side of thedaughter wafer (FIG. 119).

Alternatively, if the material that is put on as either the protectlayer or the adhesive to attach the carrier wafer to the daughter wafercan withstand the temperatures of the tack and fuse process, then thisstep can be postponed until after the fuse process is compete. Thisallows for greater thinning of the daughter wafer while making itpossible to still handle the individual die during the tack processwithout cracking or damaging the chips. In this scenario, the daughterchip will typically have its circuitry face-up (i.e. away from themother chip) with the malleable material being on the mother chip. Ofcourse, bearing in mind that the mother/daughter convention is merelyarbitrary, the opposite could be true or, in the case of certain wellattachment or other variants, the malleable material could be in the viaitself or even added later.

In another alternative variant, this step could be omitted entirely andthe protective layer left on permanently, for example, if the vias werenot formed to stack a third chip on top, but in order to allow a chip tobe hybridized with circuitry facing up rather than down, for example, ifoptical devices are on the daughter wafer and the top carrier wafercould have built-in microlenses or other passive elements, or if thedaughter and mother wafers were RF devices and it was desirable for thetwo electronic circuits to not be immediately adjacent to one another.Again, this would typically require the mother chip to have themalleable material on it.

At this point, presuming that the contacts described above on the motherand daughter wafers are to be mated together, it is now possible to jointhe respective chips. The joining process proceeds as follows.

First, the daughter wafer is flipped over and the respective contacts tobe joined on the mother and daughter wafers are aligned with respect toeach other (FIG. 120). The alignment step is used to align the motherand daughter wafers. The alignment should be with a tolerance of .+−.about the size of the pad. With an oversized malleable contact thealignment tolerance can be somewhat larger. In general, the alignment isdone to ensure that the entirety of the top of the rigid contact hitsthe malleable contact at some spot. By way of example, if the malleablecontact was a square 15 microns wide on a side and the top of the rigidcontact was a square 5 microns wide on a side, if perfectly centered,the edges of the rigid contact would be 5 microns from the edge of themalleable contact and the alignment accuracy would be .+−0.5 microns.

Then, the contacts are brought together under pressure to form a postand penetration connection (FIG. 121).

One of the key advantages to this approach to stacking is that the rigidmaterial penetrates into the malleable material. This permits a strongbond to occur between the two wafers since the surface area between thetwo contacts is larger than the size of the individual contact itselfMoreover, the bond is stronger because the type of failure necessary forthe two parts to pull apart would require both a delamination of thehorizontal surface of the post and a shear failure of the vertical sideof the post. Notably, the latter is a much less likely form of failure,so the risk of overall failure is even more remote than either alone.

In practice, the amount of protrusion is also important. Typically, atleast a half-micron of protrusion is desirable. Although less protrusioncan work for some implementations, the strength goes down considerablyat lower levels of protrusion. In practice we have determined that, fora malleable material which has total height of 8 microns, the rigidmaterial will typically extend 2-3 microns into the malleable; for amalleable material of 10 microns, the rigid will typically extend 5microns into the malleable material. A general “rule of thumb” is tohave a penetration of 10% or more of the thickness of the malleablecontact but have it penetrate less than 90% of the way through themalleable contact.

Another key advantage is that the penetration of the posts allows forsignificant non-planarity of the daughter and mother chips relative tothe pitch of the contacts. For example, for contacts that are 12 micronswide on a 20 micron pitch, the height of the malleable material can befairly high, for example, up to the point where the height matches thepitch. Similarly, the planarity deviation from contact to contact can beas wide as the thickness of the malleable contacts. For example, if thepost had a height of 5 microns and the malleable material had a heightof 8 microns the difference in planarity from contact to contact couldbe as much as 8 microns. In that case, some of the posts would penetrateall the way through the malleable material and some would have lesspenetration.

Returning to the process flow, following penetration of the rigidcontact into the malleable contact or concurrent with it, the tack phaseof a tack and fuse process can be performed. As shown in FIG. 121, thetwo occur concurrently. During the tack phase of the process, electricalconnections between the two wafers are made. Advantageously, nointermediate epoxy or other substance is necessary to hold the chipstogether or that can act as a barrier between the electricalconnections.

Optionally, prior to the tack phase, an underfill can be insertedbetween the two chips to fill the void between the two if, for example,potential rework is not part of the process and the underfill materialwill not be adversely affected by the temperatures used in the tack orfuse process.

At this point, the mother and daughter wafers are joined and can betested (and in some cases if one is faulty, replaced).

Once it is determined that a permanent connection between the two isdesired, the fuse phase of the tack and fuse process is performed (FIG.122) to form the joined pair (e.g. hybridized unit) 12202, 12204. Duringthe fuse process, the mother diffusion/cap, the daughter oxidation cap,and the daughter malleable material all interdiffuse together formingthe final composition of the overall contact.

Optionally, if not done previously, an underfill can be inserted betweenthe chips prior to the fuse process, if temperature is not a concern, orfollowing the fuse process. The advantage to using an underfill is thatit reduces the prospect of air being trapped between the two chips andlater damaging the chips or connections due to temperature cycling(because the tack and fuse process forms a hermetic seal).

Once the mother wafer has been populated in the tack process (i.e. in adie-to-wafer process, the alignment and tack processes are repeated foreach good location across the mother wafer, with known bad mother diesites not being populated, and in a wafer-to-wafer process, the twowafers are tacked together in their entirety, and if optional testing isperformed, the location of bad chips being noted for futureelimination), then the entire mother wafer goes through the fuseprocess, permanently attaching all of the daughter chips. This can bedone at a much higher temperature than the tack phase. Moreover, thetime is the same for each chip, as the process is done wafer-at-a-time,so the process yields fairly homogeneous connections across the eachindividual chip.

Temperature for the fuse phase will typically be, for example, 320° C.to 400° C., depending upon the particular materials involved.

Advantageously, by separating the tack process from the fuse process,the equipment performing the tack is not slowed down by having to heator cool each individual part). By performing this in a controlled mannerat a wafer level, all contacts can have a very similar finalcomposition.

An inert or reducing environment can be used during the tack phase, thefuse phase, or both, to help to minimize or remove oxide at the surfaceof the materials and help lower the required temperature or pressure foreach step. Typically these would be gases such as nitrogen, argon, otherinert gases or reducing gases such as forming-gas or formic acid, orsome other environment with hydrogen content or some other reducing gas.

As noted above, the process is not complete because a third chip is tobe joined to this newly formed unit. As with the joining of the motherand daughter chips, the unit can be joined to another chip. Thus, asshown in FIG. 123, a second daughter wafer is brought to, and itscontact aligned with, the appropriate contact on the unit 12202, 12204.

Advantageously, because of the prior processing steps, the exposed sideof the via on the top of the first daughter chip has the samecomposition as the top of the original rigid contact. Thus, forsubsequent “daughter” wafers, the hybridization happens the same way asdone for the first two wafers (i.e. align, penetrate, tack (optionallytest) and fuse. The malleable material is pinned between the respectivebarrier layers and the post on the via penetrates into the malleablematerial). An important advantage to the process is thus, that the viasand the base hybridization are set up to operate with the same materialsystem and the same process flow facilitating repeated stacking beyondthe conventional stacked chip pairs one might find.

As a result, a mother wafer can be populated with one set of chips andthen another (Daughter Wafer 2), and then another, etc running theprocess in an identical fashion with each layer as needed using either atack, fuse, tack, fuse approach or, in some cases, a tack, tack, tack,fuse all approach.

Thus, a second tack phase is performed on the second daughter wafer tobond it to the unit and, once competed, this newly formed larger unitcan optionally be further tested and, if the second daughter chip isbad, it can be detached and replaced (FIG. 124).

Finally, when a permanent connection between the second daughter and theunit is desired, the fuse phase of the tack and fuse process isperformed again (FIG. 125) to form a new, larger hybridized unit 12502,12504.

After this step, the process can be repeated over and over to allowmultiple further chips to be integrated, for example onto the “DaughterWafer 2” or other chips present on the wafer (not shown). Because theelectrical connections are made during each tack process, each chipneeds to be aligned only to the one immediately below it, so a furtheradvantage is achieved in that there is no accumulation of alignmenterrors as in other stacking techniques where all of the chips must firstbe stacked before an attempt at through-connection can begin.

Moreover, to the extent necessary, testing of each larger combined unitcan be performed following each successive layer (and rework can bedone, if required). Again, this provides a distinct advantage anddramatic cost savings and yield increase because, if dies were stackedin multiple layers, conventional techniques would likely require thatthe entire built up unit be completed before electrical testing couldoccur. Thus, only after an expensive unit has been created could aconventional part be tested and, if bad and rework were not possible,the only option would be to scrap the entire high cost unit. Inaddition, with conventional techniques, the risk of damaging the unitduring build up or of wasting parts, for example, if the failure was onthe first tier chip, dramatically increases.

In contrast, using one of the approaches described herein, a multi-stackconfiguration could be created with much less risk. Again, dependingupon the particular case, the approach could be performed, as above, asa sequence of align, tack, fuse, align, tack, fuse, as many times as wasnecessary. Under conditions where the tack process had high enoughstrength, for example >=500 contacts, then the process couldalternatively be performed as align, tack, align, tack, as many times asnecessary and only after all of the chips were stacked vertically (andtested good if that option was used) would the fuse be performed. Thissecond approach can further be effectively used when different numbersof chips will be stacked at different locations.

At this point it is useful to note that, through use of the post andpenetration connections and the tack and fuse processes, the subsequentjoining of the second daughter wafer (and subsequent wafers) to the unitcan be performed without adversely affecting the prior-formed inter-unitconnections. Indeed, we have surprisingly found that by using a tack,fuse, tack fuse, approach (whether or not intervening thinning occurs),the successive fuse steps actually cause the resistance of the previousconnections to go down. This is significant because common wisdom wouldtend to suggest that a subsequent fuse would tend to weaken or degradeprior formed connections (this was especially true with the “well”connections described below).

FIG. 126 through FIG. 139 illustrate in abbreviated form, a furthervariant that, to avoid redundancy, begins with the to-be-rerouteddaughter wafer and corresponding mother wafer of FIG. 103. However, inthis example, the daughter wafer is processed as illustrated insimplified form in FIG. 77 a through FIG. 104, but now includes creationof a post to facilitate stacking of a second daughter wafer on top aswith the previous example.

The process begins, starting with the wafer of FIG. 104, byphotolithographically defining the area for the reroute on the daughterwafer (FIG. 126). Then, the barrier layer is applied to reroute thecontact on the daughter wafer and a seed layer is applied to the motherwafer (FIG. 127). Then the photolith is stripped away (FIG. 128) and newphotolithographic patterning is used to protect all but the area abovethe original contacts (FIG. 129). Next, the contacts are metallized(FIG. 130), the daughter wafer having a gold-tin (Au/Sn) alloy topped bya discrete layer of Sn and a cap of gold, and the mother wafer contactbeing plated with copper. Again, the photolith is stripped (FIG. 131)and the unwanted seed layer is removed by etching (FIG. 132). Finally, acap of Ni/Au is applied to the mother wafer contact through electrolessplating (FIG. 133).

Then, the wafers are aligned relative to each other (FIG. 134).Thereafter, the contacts can be brought together to form a post andpenetration connection, a tack, optional testing, and possibly a fuseprocess can be performed to create a combined hybridized unit (none ofwhich are shown here to avoid redundancy because they are described andillustrated elsewhere herein).

Now, since this example also involves addition of a second daughterwafer on top of this daughter wafer, the process proceeds as follows.First, the back side of the daughter wafer of the combined unit isthinned to expose the previously-formed back side contact (FIG. 135).Then the substrate is etched to elevate the post above the surface ofthe substrate (FIG. 136).

While this adds other steps post-hybridization, namely those involvedwith the thinning, if this is sufficient for the particular applicationthe process can stop here. The advantage to doing so is that no furtherlithographic patterning or material deposition which each require moretouch labor and are the major sources of yield-loss risk. Alternatively,if the time lag to joining to another element, the material, or otherfactors are such that oxidation could be a problem, a cap could be added(i.e. further processing would be required).

FIG. 137 is a photograph of an example contact following completion ofthe steps shown in FIG. 135 and FIG. 136. In FIG. 137, the post 13702,barrier 13704 and substrate 13706 are clearly visible.

Presuming that oxidation could be a problem, a cap is applied to theupraised portion of the post (FIG. 138), completing the back sidecontact formation process.

As with the first daughter wafer, the next daughter wafer is alignedover this back side contact (FIG. 139) at which point a post andpenetration connection between the two can be formed, along with orfollowed by a tack process, etc.

In general, there are numerous materials that are suitable for use asthe barrier. Such materials include, but are not limited to: Ni, Cr,Ti/Pt, Ti/Pd/Pt, Ti/Pt/Au, Ti/Pd, Ti/Pd/Au, Ti/Pd/Pt/Au, TiW, Ta, TaN,Ti, TaW, and W.

Suitable materials for the seed layer include, but are not limited to:Ni, Cu, Al, Au, W, Pd, and Pt.

Alternative suitable materials include, but are not limited to: Ta/Cu,TaN/Cu, Ni/Au, Ni/Cu, Ti/Pd/Au, Ti/Pd/Cu, Chromium, conductive epoxythat can be put down in a flat manner (e.g. through evaporation orspraying), or combinations thereof.

Note however, that all of the barriers on a chip or chip pair do nothave to be of the exact same materials.

In general, where a barrier is used the material should have thefollowing characteristics:

i) It should be compatible with the particular pad material (typicalpads are Aluminum, Copper, and Gold);

ii) It should to be selected so that, if a wafer has coexisting small(<15 um) and larger (>50 um) IC pads, it can be placed onto that waferwith good yield on both; and

iii) If an under bump metal is also used as the rigid material or actsas a standoff, then it should satisfy the above and also be able to bemade several microns (>3 um) high.

In addition, it is desirable for the barrier material to be compatiblewith deposition on top of both IC pads and the top coverglass/passivation layer of the chip.

The use of a barrier also can provide one or more of the followingadvantages:

i) It can allow for high yield and increase reliability of the contactsfor hybridization;

ii) If deposited both on top of the pads and the topcover-glass/passivation layer of the chip, the barrier layer can laterbe used as:

1) a signal reroute material,

2) an electrical shield between the two chips to prevent crosstalkbetween them, and/or

3) a seed layer for any subsequent steps which can be performed byelectroplating (e.g. formation of the rigid post and application of themalleable materials);

iii) increased shelf-life of the daughter material because the barrieracts as a cap to prevent or retards oxidation;

iv) it can be pre-patterned to act as a reroute or a shield;

The alternative materials noted above can provide certain advantages insome implementations because:

i) the barrier capabilities of Ta & TaN are believed to be superior tothat of TiW,

ii) a nickel-based process allows the UBM and subsequent rigid materialto be one and the same, thereby simplifying the process,

iii) alternatives which do not leave copper exposed have longershelf-life so they can be more compatible with certain manufacturingprocesses,

iv) if no subsequent electroplating steps are needed (e.g. fordeposition of a rigid or standoff member on the daughter wafer), thenany of these materials could be just patterned over the pads and rerouteor shielding areas, thereby eliminating the need to perform a subsequentseed and etching step to define these regions.

With respect to the use of barrier layers, in many variants, it isimportant to ensure that: 1) the appropriate metals that are supposed tointeract do interact; 2) those same metals interact in a way that thefinal composition after interaction is correct, 3) other metals used inthe stack (i.e. rigid and standoff) do not interact so as to contaminatethe metals, and 4) the barrier will allow for multiple high temperaturecycles at temperatures up to and above both the package solderconditions (e.g. Pb/Sn at the appropriate temperature or some lead-freesolders operating typically near about 240° C. to about 270° C.) for thetack part of the process and temperatures for the fuse part of theprocess which can typically be between about 300° C. to about 350° C.The barrier maintains the integrity of the attachment material bypreventing intermixing of metals that should be kept separate for betterintegrity of the bond.

This is shown, by way of example, with reference to FIG. 140 whichillustrates a daughter wafer contact 14002 and a mother wafer contact14004 immediately prior to the tack phase. As shown, the daughter wafercontact's barrier layer 14006 is Ti/Pd/Au and the mother wafer contact'sbarrier layer 14008 is Ni. The “rigid” material 14010 on the motherwafer is copper and the malleable material 14012 on the daughter isAu/Sn. In addition, a cap 14014, 14016 on each is made of gold andserves the dual-purpose of preventing oxidation of the respectivematerials on either side, and permitting the initial tack process tooccur easily since the two metals in initial contact are comprised ofthe same material. Note that, in actuality in most variants, the cap14014, 14016 layer will typically completely surround the othermaterials, however for simplicity of illustration, it is merely shown ontop. FIG. 141 shows, in simplified form, the same contacts after thefuse process is complete. After the final combination of metals isachieved, the two gold cap layers have intermixed with the Au/Sn layerto form an Au/Sn alloy 14102 while the nickel and Ti/Pd/Au act asbarriers to prevent intermixing of the Au/Sn with the copper and the padon top of the Ti/Pd/Au respectively. Thus, the fused Au/Sn 14102 is“trapped” between these two barrier layers 14006, 14008 keeping thecomposition of the Au/Sn consistent and uniform even over a number ofsubsequent high temperature steps.

In contrast, for example, if the Nickel barrier layer 14008 were absent,then the Au/Sn 14102 would be in direct contact with a very thick layerof copper 14010 (in an actual implementation of the example, it would beover 60% of the thickness of the Au/Sn. As a result, under temperature,the Sn would diffuse into the copper and then the resulting alloy wouldbegin to change dramatically in properties. For example, copper has amelting point of 1084° C. As the Sn initially diffuses into the copper,the top of the rigid post would be a Sn-rich mixture which would have amelting point much lower (e.g. a 97% Sn 3% Cu mixture has a meltingpoint around 230° C.). As the Sn diffuses further into the copper, itwinds up having a lower melting point than the Au/Sn and the copper postceases to be the rigid member in the tack and fuse process. Equallyimportantly, the copper 14010 would leach Sn from the Au/Sn 14102resulting in an increase in the temperature at which it becomesmalleable. Thus, an increasingly softer rigid member would be trying topenetrate into an increasingly harder malleable member. This wouldaffect contact strength, uniformity, and ultimately the density of thecontact spacing that could be used. Moreover, the effect would becumulative with time. Depending upon the length of the time over whichthe fuse process occurs, the composition and the performance of thecontact could vary greatly. This would also be the case if a contactunderwent multiple fuse cycles, for example if chips were stackedmultiple-high vertically. The bottom chips in the stack would havevastly different and inconsistent behavior relative to later fused chipsin the stack. By using the barrier metals, the Au/Sn is largely confinedand thus can maintain the same composition and characteristics throughmultiple fuse cycles. Note that even with a barrier some interdiffusioncan occur, for example between the Au/Sn and the Ni, but the rate ofthis diffusion is far, far slower than would be the case with the Cu soit can be neglected for up to a reasonably large number of stackedchips—e.g. 100 or fewer. Thus, whatever materials are used for theparticular implementation, the barrier should typically be a constituentof the final joining alloy to avoid or minimize adverse interdiffusion.

In the general post and penetration approach, the two mating contactshave been shown as largely flat—although this is neither a requirementnor a necessarily desirable configuration for all applications. Sincethe quality (or lack thereof) of an electrical connection between twopoints directly affects the resistance of the connection, and poorconnections reduce yield, minimizing of poor connections is desirable.Advantageously, the post and penetration approach can (withoutincreasing the “footprint” of either contact) be readily adapted toreduce the risk of a high resistance connection being created, therebyincreasing yield. The approach involves improving penetration andincreasing the contact surface area by creating a pattern or profile onthe malleable or the penetrating contact.

Where the relative sizing makes the malleable contact larger than therigid contact, if the malleable contact will be directly over the ICcontact pad, the malleable contact can be profiled almost automatically.By patterning the metal for the malleable contact in an area that islarger than the opening for the IC contact pad on which it is built, anatural depression will be formed near the center of the contact, due tothe relative height differential between the cover glass on the IC andthe IC pad itself. FIG. 142 illustrates such a profiled malleablecontact 14202. As shown, the malleable contact 14202 has been formed tobe wider than the IC contact pad 14204. As a result, the elevation ofthe cover glass 14206 relative to the contact pad 14204 naturally causesa depression 14208 in the malleable contact 14202. Advantageously, thisnatural depression 14208 makes the malleable contact 14202 better suitedto receive a rigid contact 14210 and even to aid with alignment if therigid contact 14210 is meaningfully close to the size of the depression,owing to the natural shapes of each.

Profiling the rigid contact reduces the initial contact area therebyeffectively increasing applied force per unit contact area whichimproves penetration, while the increase in surface area afforded by thewalls of the profiles in the depth direction ensures that sufficientarea of electrical and mechanical contact is achieved.

For purposes of illustration, representative, non-limiting, illustrativeexamples of some of the myriad of possible mother contact profiles areshown in top and cutaway side views along section lines A-A in FIGS.143A through 143H and FIG. 143W for contact pads of circular, hexagonal,cross and square shapes, and FIGS. 143I through 143P for contact pads ofcomplex shapes like an inverted truncated section of a pyramid base witha cube on top (FIG. 143K, FIG. 143L), an inverted truncated pyramid basesection alone (FIG. 143M, FIG. 143N) or a post-in-a-well (FIG. 1430,FIG. 143P), as well as the example shapes illustrated, in side viewonly, in FIG. 143Q through FIG. 143V, it being understood that similarapproaches can be used for contact pads that are ring-shaped or made upof a stack of “tiers” in a pyramidal or some other three dimensionalshape, for use with the two- or three-conductor variants described aboveor any other simple or complex combinations of shapes and solid geometrysections.

Other alternatives can use “wings” at the base of the contact, such asshown in FIG. 143V, which increase surface area by simply providingadditional lateral area for contact.

Still further, it may be desirable to use an asymmetrical or elongatedcontact (i.e. different widths in different directions in order toabsorb strain in a particular direction such as shown in FIG. 143X.Alternatively or additionally, a group of such asymmetric or elongatedcontacts can be used together such that they are symmetric around a zerostress point but thereby allow for directional variations in any ofseveral directions such as shown in FIG. 143Y. Thus, in some respectsthe configuration of FIG. 143Y is a more sophisticated version of thecontact of FIG. 143T.

In addition, the contact profiles could include undercuts such as shownin FIG. 143J, FIG. 143L, FIG. 143N, FIG. 143Q, FIG. 143R, FIG. 143S andFIG. 143U which would give the contact additional strength because itprovides an area for the malleable material to “grab” to. Similarly, apost can be patterned to have a wider facing surface area or overallsurface area to ensure sufficient area of contact even with an imperfectconnection. In addition, such as shown in FIG. 143T, a given contact canitself be made up of multiple contacts, with the individual parts beingelectrically independent. Alternatively, some or all could beelectrically connected to each other. This variant provides both alarger surface area, for better shear strength, and a redundancy effectso that, if one or more of the sub contacts are misaligned, the overallconnection can still be made and have sufficient contact area to carrythe required current.

It should be further noted that the particular shape of the contact pad,or the shape or configuration of the profiling used is, per se,irrelevant—the important aspect being the use of some profile toincrease the available contact surface area while providing anappropriate shape to bond to for the particular application, not theparticular contact or profile shape used, subject to the engineeringrequirement that the total current requirements for the contact can behandled by the minimum acceptable amount of contact and the particularprofile used increases the surface area by an amount sufficient tolikely achieve the desired objective relative to the likelihood that abad connection will result if profiling is not used. Moreover, althoughdiscussed in connection with a rigid/mother contact, malleable/daughtercontacts that are analogously profiled could be used. However, in thatinstance, the contact configuration would most typically involve a rigidwell configuration on the mother wafer.

FIG. 144 is a photograph of an alternative example profiled malleablecontact having a shape like a pyramid base that is rounded at thecorners and is slightly dished or recessed on top.

FIG. 145 is a photograph of a profiled rigid contact designed topenetrate the malleable contact of FIG. 144.

The above is briefly illustrated with reference to FIGS. 146A and 146Bwhich show portions of a pair of chips 14600, 14602 similar to those ofFIG. 47. However, unlike the chips of FIG. 47, one chip 14602 has aprofiled rigid contact 14604 as opposed to the non-profiled rigidcontact of FIG. 41. The other chip 14600 has a malleable contact 14606similar to the malleable contact shown in FIG. 47. When the two contacts14604, 14606 are brought together, as shown in FIG. 146B, a post andpenetration fit is formed. However, unlike the contacts of FIG. 47, herethe individual mini posts of the profiled contact 14604 each penetratethe malleable contact 14606 and thereby provides a greater amount ofsurface to surface contact area for the diffusive connection than wouldbe available for a non-profiled contact of the same “footprint” joinedto the malleable contact 14606 using the same amount of pressure.Moreover, some implementations of the profiled contact provide a furtheradvantage in terms of minimizing risks associated with imperfectconnections. This independent aspect is also illustrated in FIG. 146Bwhereby, despite the fact that the connection between the two contacts14604, 14606 is less than ideal (i.e. there are gaps 14608 near thevalleys 14610 of the rigid contact 14604) the added contact areaprovided by the profile sides 14610 on the rigid contact 14604 meansthat the connection will be acceptable.

Stated another way for purposes of explanation, presume that, if therigid contact 14604 was not profiled, the contact area would have beenequal to the minimum contact area possible to meet the total currentrequirement for the contact. In such a case, if any portion of thecontact did not result in a good connection, the connection would likelybe unacceptable and could result in premature failure during use orcomplete unusability. In contrast, in this example, the rigid contact ofFIG. 146 is profiled. Assuming, as shown in FIGS. 146A and 146B, thatthe profile increases the contact surface area by a factor of at leasttwo (an easily achievable profile), if only half of the overall surfacearea creates a good connection, the connection will still be able tomeet the minimum total current requirement. Thus, as shown in magnifiedform in FIG. 146B, although there are areas where no contact is made,those areas are much less than a quarter of the necessary contact areaneeded for a good connection, so the contact is still acceptable foruse.

Alternatively, a profiled contact can be created by using multiple smallrigid contacts in conjunction with one or more larger malleable contactsto create a single, overall connection. For example, one could have anelectrical connection made up of three sets of contact pairs where eachindividual contact pair is made up of multiple rigid contacts and asingle (or multiple) malleable contacts.

A further variant of the profiling concept involves the creation of a“well” designed, depending upon the particular implementation, to assistor improve alignment, constrain the malleable material, or assist informing a good connection. As shown and described in connection with thefollowing figures, these well-attach variants provide further benefitsand advantages to particular implementations.

FIGS. 147 through 152 illustrate one variant process for implementingthe well attach concept for a mother and daughter wafer contact pair(FIG. 147). In this variant, the cover glass openings of the daughterwafer are used as a template and are built up into a permanent wellusing, for example, polyimide, SU8, other epoxies, glasses, and/ordielectrics (FIG. 148 a). On the mother wafer, a similar approach isused, except the well does not encompass the entire area bounded by thecover glass (FIG. 148 b). The malleable material and the (optional)malleable cover material are then inserted in the well of the daughterwafer, taking care to not fill the well to its full depth (FIG. 149 a).Similarly, the rigid material is built up from the pad surface of themother wafer (FIG. 149 b). The well on the mother wafer is then removed(FIG. 150), but the well on the daughter wafer is kept in place.

As a result, the daughter wafer's well will constrain the bondingmaterial (e.g. the covers and malleable materials) during thepenetration process, as well as during the tack (FIG. 151) and fuse(FIG. 152) phases of the joining process. It also can establish a depthlimit because the well can have a height such that it impacts the otherwafer or some surface thereon before anything else does (FIG. 152).

Advantageously, through this approach, the well can allow the cover orcap materials and or the malleable material itself to be of a materialthat can be brought to a semi liquidus or even true melting point or, atleast to a point where it becomes flexible enough so that that it wouldordinarily spread. This is useful for situations where contacts arepositioned close together and the flexing that typically occurs duringmelting will cause the materials to bulge laterally in an effort toreduce surface area. For contacts where the spacing between edges of thecontacts without the wells is less than or equal to about 3 times theheight of the malleable material, pre integration planning for such usemay be desirable (e.g. if the malleable material is 8 microns high andthe separation between the contact edges is less than or equal to about25 microns this approach should be considered).

In addition, if brought too close to their melting temperature, somematerials can “wet” a wafer surface and, rather than just spreading,they can creep along a surface. In the case of a malleable contact, leftunaccounted for, such action can cause electrical shorting betweenadjacent contacts. Advantageously, by keeping these materials in thewell, any wetting creep will be counteracted by surface tension and keepthe material in the well; preventing it from shorting adjacent contacts.

The well can also be critical in some implementations, for example, if apost-joining process will be performed that could cause the combinedcontact to melt. For example if a contact were made at the appropriatetemperature for the rigid-malleable contact to be made, and then thecombined chip needed to be soldered into a package but the temperaturerequired for the soldering step was higher than the melting temperatureof the contact as it exists at completion of the fuse phase, then thecontact would stay in-tact during the process because the meltedmaterial would be encapsulated by the well and re-attach upon cooling.

Moreover, the well approach is well suited to making multiple denselypacked connections because the wells are patterned using semiconductorlithography techniques rather than conventional mask printing orsoldering techniques. In alternative variants, “reverse” of the wellprocess described above can be used. In these variants, the process isperformed so that the well is not filled with the malleable metal. Thesevariants fall into one of four classes respectively illustrated in FIG.153 through FIG. 156.

Class I (FIG. 153): With this class of well connection, the daughterwafer contains the malleable material and the mother wafer has a rigidwell (shown as etched in the semiconductor wafer). The well is coated onthe walls with simply the diffusion layer metal, for example, Au. Tojoin the two wafers, the malleable material on the daughter wafer isinserted into and fits inside the well such that it deforms. Throughaddition of temperature and pressure during the tack phase causes themalleable material and diffusion layer form the tack connection. Duringthe fuse phase, the malleable material of the daughter wafer and thediffusion layer of the mother wafer interdiffuse to form the metallicbond. Depending upon the particular implementation, the malleablematerial can be slightly larger than the well or at least contain morevolumetric material in order to make the fit between the two wafersstrong during the tack phase and to ensure there are no voids after fusephase is complete. Note that this class violates the mother/daughterconvention.

Class II (FIG. 154): This class is similar to class I, except the wellor the malleable “post” are formed into a shape in order to makealignment between the two automatic or easier. Note that this class alsoviolates the mother/daughter convention.

Class III (FIG. 155): With this class, the post is the “rigid” materialand the well is coated with the malleable material to some specifiedthickness. This is like the basic profiled malleable contact approachdescribed above except the malleable material has a more pronouncedrecessed profile then the mere indentation that naturally resulted fromthe height differential between the cover glass and IC pad. Again, it isdesirable that the dimensions of the post and well be selected such thatthere are no voids after integration (i.e. completion of the tack andfuse processes).

Class IV (FIG. 156): With this class, the well is coated with thediffusion layer (similar to classes I and II, and the post is made ofthe rigid material, but it is also coated on its outside with a layer ofthe malleable material. This makes the situation like classes I and II,except the cost of the daughter wafer can be lower if the material costof the rigid material is less than that of the malleable material, forexample, where the rigid contains mostly copper while the malleablecontains mostly gold.

Advantageously, with the approaches described above the well can eitherbe built up using, for example, a dielectric or it can be recessed (i.e.made by etching into the semiconductor). Still further, the well can bea byproduct of the via formation process. For example it can even bepart of a via that is not completely filled. FIGS. 157A and 157B are,respectively, photographs in longitudinal cross section of a set of 15micron diameter vias extending 135 microns deep and 25 micron diametervias extending 155 microns deep. FIG. 158, is a photograph of a similarvia formed but not filled all of the way to the bottom. As a result, bythinning the back side of the wafer until the bottom of the via isexposed, a natural well will be formed. Left as is, this well can beused for a class I well. Alternatively, a flare or taper can be etchedat the mouth of each, resulting in a class II well.

FIGS. 159 through 167 illustrate a further variant of a Class II-typerigid well attach approach. This version of the rigid hole well againstarts with a fully formed wafer and specifically one of its pads 15902exposed through the cover glass 15904 (FIG. 159). Optionally first, abarrier layer 16002 is deposited over the IC pad 15902 (FIG. 160). Thenphotoresist patterning exposes an area about the IC pad 15902 that alsoincludes some of the cover glass 15904 (FIG. 161). The well is formedautomatically by the process of evaporating metal into the recess formedby the cover glass on the IC (FIG. 162). This makes the patterningeasier than with some of the other rigid well hole processes. Strippingof the photoresist removes the excess, unwanted metal leaving behind afully formed rigid well (FIG. 163).

As with the other class II variants, this variant violates thedaughter/mother convention because the wafer 16402 bearing thecounterpart to the wafer of FIG. 163 does not have a rigid “post” in thesense previously described, but instead has a standoff 16404 coated, inpertinent part, with a cap 16406 of malleable material (FIG. 164). Thehole in the rigid formation itself allows penetration of the malleableportion on the standoff (FIG. 164) with a good fit and adequate surfacearea. As shown in FIG. 165, with the application of heat, the malleablecap wets and attaches to the post. As shown in FIG. 166, during the tackphase, the malleable cap becomes liquidus or semi-liquidus, and willfill the void of FIG. 165. This is desirable because trapped gas in thevoid could render the contact potentially unreliable due to expansionand contraction during thermal cycling. When the malleable cap fills thevoid during the tack phase or at the start of the fuse phase, then thefuse phase allows the malleable cap to diffuse with the rigid cap & themalleable material forming the final connection fused connection (FIG.167).

A further alternative well attach variant can be formed using theprofiled contacts of FIG. 1440, FIG. 144P or FIG. 146. In this variant,the well is formed by the pattern of the rigid material so that it formsa wall over which liquidus material, should there be any, can beprevented from passing. Thus, this approach allows for use of processesand allows very dense connections, with and without use of therigid-malleable paradigm because, properly designed, the well willcontain any liquidus material or prevent the lateral bulging of themalleable material from going too far, in either case allowing for highyield at high contact density.

FIG. 168 through FIG. 170 show a further variant of the well attachapproach in which the chips are attached to one another by separateremote contacts. This approach is advantageously applicable in at leastthree situations:

1) where it is undesirable to place a cover material over the malleablematerial because it could adversely affect the way the materials bond;

2) where the attachment would like to be done at a very low temperature(or, in some cases, even room temperature) to enhance the speed of theprocess, for example, if the wafers each had very flat surfaces, thenvan der Waals forces could attach the chips or dangling atomic bondscould create covalent bonds allowing connections to be made byinsulators such as oxides, nitrides or other dielectrics (this avoids orreduces waiting time for parts to come up to temperature and potentiallydecreases the cost of capital equipment since a machine with temperaturecapability would not be necessary); and

3) where it may be desirable to have the attach materials reflow (turnliquidus) in order to self-center the chips for the subsequent fuseprocess without having the primary contacts turn completely liquidussince, as noted above, that could cause running or creep and thus wouldlimit the potential density of the actual contacts (this also allows forcheaper equipment to be used to do the attachment since that equipmentwould not have to have the alignment accuracy necessarily needed by thehigh pitch of the primary contacts because the remote attach contactscould indirectly provide that level of accuracy.

By way of example, the remote contacts 16802, 16804 could be made out ofa material like indium, which is soft at room-temperature and thus,could be made to attach merely by the use of pressure squeezing theparts together. Alternatively, some other low temperature material couldbe used which can provide adhesion without high temperature, theparticular material being largely unimportant, provided it does notadversely affect the whole (i.e. introduce shorts, etc.). For example, alower temperature solder (less than 250° C.) could be used. If put intoits liquidus state, the surface tension could align the two chipstogether so that the attach process can be done by cheaper pieces ofequipment that have poor alignment accuracy, for example, a conventionalpick- and place machine. Still further, the remote contacts could beconfigured so that, if very flat, simple covalent bonding aligns andholds the chips together.

In this process, as shown in FIGS. 168 through 170, separate contactsare used for connecting the devices during an initial attach phase(pre-tack phase). FIGS. 171A and 171B illustrate top views ofalternative remote contact variants similar to those of FIGS. 168through 170. These separate contacts can be completely remote from theelectrical contacts, for example at or about the periphery of theindividual chips (FIG. 171A) or can be interspersed with the actualelectrical contacts (FIG. 168, FIG. 171B). In addition, andadvantageously, the remote contacts as described herein are compatiblewith all variants of the primary contacts and they can be much larger inheight and width than the primary electrical contacts, since they do nothave to be on a close pitch. Preferably, they should be high enough sothat the primary contacts do not have to touch during the attach process(FIG. 169). It should be noted that this attach or adhesion process doesnot have to be high strength. It is the subsequent fuse process of theprimary contacts which can provide the strength for the joined chips.FIG. 170 shows the wafers of FIG. 169 following the fuse process, theresult of which is that the primary contacts are permanently combinedtogether in a high strength bond.

In general, and as with the tack phase, the fuse phase would occur at ahigher temperature and/or pressure than is required for the attach oradhesion phase of this variant.

Again, as with materials that could turn liquidus or semi-liquidusduring the tack and fuse phases, compression of the attach contacts cancause them to spread laterally and/or heating of the material couldcause it to turn liquidus and want to spread out, potentially causingelectrical shorting if it spread to the primary contacts. Thus, oneadvantageous option is to apply the principles of forming “well”-basedelectrical contacts described herein to the remote contacts. In thismanner, they can be allowed to become liquidous or extend laterallyduring pressure application or at temperature during the tack or fuseprocess, without contaminating or shorting out the primary contacts.

Advantageously, the remote contacts can also be configured to enabletesting of the two chips before bonding the actual contacts together,irrespective of, or prior to, joining in the tack and fuse phases. Ifthe chips are designed so that the location of the remote contacts arealso the location of special pads that allow communication between thechips to occur, for purposes of testing whether the combination of theparticular individual chips is operational, then if either or both ofthe chips were not operational (i.e. non-functional or functional butout of specification), the chips could be pulled apart and a new, chipattached.

Moreover, through proper design, this pre-tack, pseudo-hybridizationtesting approach can be very valuable since it can be incorporated intoa design, whether joining will occur on a wafer-to-wafer, chip-to-waferor chip-to-chip basis. Thus, the selection of the type of joining to beused for a specific application (i.e. wafer-to-wafer, chip-to-wafer orchip-to-chip) can, in part, be a factor of ability to test. For example,if testing is possible on a wafer basis, then all of the chips on twowafers can be hybridized in parallel on a wafer basis, withnon-operational chips being flagged for rework once sawn or diced.Alternatively, the approach can be used in cases where individual diescome from one or more foundries and there is no good way to know beforehybridization if any given die is a known good die.

In yet another an alternative version, the remote materials could be ofthe same materials as the primary contacts (e.g. rigid & malleable) aslong as they were taller than the primary contacts so that, during theinitial attach phase, they did not allow the primary contacts to touch.Then during the fuse process, the remote contacts would be compressedfurther than the primary contacts. Advantageously, by using the samematerials on the remote and primary contacts processing is simplified.

From the above discussions, a derivative variants can be derived thatbuild upon and combine concepts from the multi-axial through vias, wellattach, profiled contact and remote attach variants.

The first group of variants involve complex contact shapes (i.e. contactshapes other than the conventional single square or single dot). Onesuch example, involves creation of a shielded contact, in the simplestcase, similar to a cross section of a square (FIG. 172A) or round (FIG.172B) coax or triax through-chip connection and, in more complex cases,shapes of irregular open or closed (FIG. 172C) geometries.

In the case of a coax or traix contact, the inner contact(s) would beconnected so as to be signal carrying while the outer closed ring wouldact as, or connect to, a ground plane. When used with the coaxial via(FIG. 173), it ensures that the contact is shielded all the way throughto another chip. In addition, or alternatively, the coaxial contact canbe used independently from the via itself (FIG. 174) to ensure that eachcontact itself is shielded. This allows inter-chip contacts to be spacedcloser together than would be available without the coaxial approach.Moreover, the outer contact ring of each contact can be connectedtogether and/or to on wafer, electrically isolated metal to form aground plane, and or inter-chip shielding (FIG. 175).

Using the outer ring of a contact as a ground allows for shieldingbetween the chips because, the only area where a signal propagates isthrough very small openings in the shielding layer. The same is true fortriax connections where differential signal pairs can exist within anouter ground plane. Thus, such contacts are particularly well suited forchips carrying high-speed or RF signals.

The second group of variants center around using the contact approachfor making a hermetic seal between two chips (or between a chip and apackage or board) to protect connection pads, for example I/O pads, orother devices (e.g. optical devices) which might exist in between thetwo outer devices. In this situation, the connection pads and/or opticaldevices are preexisting or concurrently are brought into existence inand will be sandwiched between two elements (e.g. two chips or one chipand a package or board). A ring is formed on the two elements outsidethe area to be protected and configured to be joined using either amalleable/rigid or well attach process so that when the two elements arehybridized together, they form a hermetic, metallic seal aroundeverything within it. This hermetic package can then withstand mostarbitrary environments, since metal's non-porous nature renders it isimpervious to most environmental conditions.

A key advantage to some variants of our approach is that, because theyuse malleable and rigid connections (versus other connection approachessuch as a metallic solder which becomes liquidus), the connections cantake on any of a variety of geometrically closed shapes. This is insharp contrast to a liquidus material, which would tend to run andreshape through surface tension into the lowest surface area available(e.g. cubes turn to spheres, corners get rounded etc.) and, whiletechniques could be used to cause the liquidus material to be wickedalong a pre-specified surface of the chip through, for example,capillary action, there is no way to reliably ensure proper distributionof material about the contact, avoid creating voids or prevent some ofthe material from running out of its specified area and potentiallyshorting out contacts, when complex shapes are involved. To thecontrary, with variants of our approaches, the simplicity or complexityof the shape is largely irrelevant because the approach is the sameirrespective of shape—the only limitations being tied to the ability tophotolithographically define the shape and deposit the appropriatemetals.

FIG. 176 through FIG. 179 illustrate two simple examples of theforegoing. Specifically, FIG. 176 illustrates a corresponding chipsurfaces having an area 17602 where the sandwiched devices (not shown)will be, and further configured with mating rigid 17604 and malleable17606 contacts which surround the periphery of the device area 17602and, when joined, form a hermetic seal about the periphery as describedherein. FIG. 177 illustrates a side view cross section taken at A-A ofthe same chips in FIG. 176 after joining FIG. 178 illustrates a morecomplex arrangement where the rigid 17802 and malleable 17804 contactshave a more complex shape and, in effect, form three differenthermetically sealed chambers about the device areas 17806, 17808, 17810.FIG. 179 illustrates a side view cross section taken at A-A of the samechips in FIG. 178 after joining

At this point, the rigid/malleable contact variants as well as the viaformation variants can be summed up in chart form using the charts ofFIG. 180 and FIGS. 181A and 181B.

FIG. 180 is a chart summarizing different approaches for forming othervariants using the rigid/malleable contact paradigm. The chart is readdownward in columnar fashion with each text-containing box representinga step in that process and each empty box (or portion thereof)representing no action necessary.

Similarly, FIGS. 181A, 181B and 182 are charts summarizing differentapproaches for forming via variants, including those described herein.These charts also read downward in columnar fashion with eachtext-containing box representing a step in that process and each emptybox (or portion thereof) representing no action necessary The bottom ofFIG. 181A continues at the top of FIG. 181B.

Numerous examples above have described the approaches with reference tothe alternatives of depositing metal on a daughter wafer or plating of adaughter wafer. To aid in understanding, FIGS. 183 through 192illustrate in greater detail the process flow for a particular instanceinvolving deposition of metal on the daughter wafer. Thereafter, FIGS.196 through 205 illustrate the process flow, with the same startingwafers, for plating of the daughter wafer.

The process begins with the respective daughter and mother wafers ofFIG. 183. Photolithographic patterning is performed on the daughterusing a 10 micron resist target of, for example, Hoechst AZ4903 orShipley STR1075 (FIG. 184). A barrier and rerouting layer of 200Angstroms Ti, 3000 Angstroms Pd and 400 Angstroms of Au is thendeposited on the daughter wafer and a barrier layer of 1000 AngstromsTiW and a seed layer of 3000 Angstroms of copper is deposited on themother wafer (FIG. 185). Next, a thick dielectric (7 microns thick) orphotoresist is applied to the mother wafer, assuming a 14 micron wide ICpad, leaving an opening of 10 microns on the pad (FIG. 186). Next, thedaughter wafer is metalized by depositing a layer of Au/Sn on thedaughter contacts to a height of about 6 to 8 microns above the IC coverglass (more typically being better than less) and then that is, in turn,topped off with 400 Angstroms of Au (FIG. 187). The mother wafer ismetalized to a height of 4.4 to 5 microns above the IC cover glass (FIG.187). The photoresist is then stripped from both of the wafers (FIG.188). Next, photolithographic patterning is done on the mother wafer tocreate 15 to 16 micron wide openings in preparation for a barrierdeposit (FIG. 189). Alternatively, a self-aligned seed etch can be donethat is as wide as necessary to ensure that the undercut does not affectthe bumps. Then, a barrier is deposited made up of 2 microns of Nitopped with 3000 Angstroms of Au (FIG. 190). Then, the photoresist isstripped (FIG. 191). Finally, unwanted seed layer is etched away (FIG.192). This can be performed as a self aligned etch using a spray etcherso that no photolithography is needed because the Ni/Au allows etchingthrough the Cu/Ti/W. If a self aligned etch can not be performed, forexample because a spray etcher is not available, then an additionalphotolithography patterning step (FIGS. 193, 194, 195) may be requiredto protect those areas that will not be etched. However, because withsome etching approaches, there is the possibility for significantundercut, such lithography should ensure that the protective photoresistis sufficiently wide to prevent undesired undercut (FIG. 193). Forexample, we have performed such an etch with contacts on a 50 micronpitch and, as a precaution, protected an area of about twice the widthof the IC pad, in this case 27 microns for a 14 micron pad. However,using a spray etcher to do a self aligned etch, an undercut of less thanabout 1 micron is possible, so a much smaller area can be protected withthat approach. Thereafter, the dice, align, tack and fuse processes canbe preformed as desired to join the two.

In contrast, the process flow for the plating case is shown in FIG. 196through FIG. 205 as follows. Again, the process begins with the wafersof FIG. 183. First, the daughter wafer and mother wafer each havebarrier of Ti0.1W0.9 and a reroute (daughter wafer) and seed (motherwafer) layer of 3000 Angstroms of Cu (FIG. 196). Next, as shown in FIG.197, photolithographic patterning is performed on the daughter wafer tolimit the area for the barrier that will be applied and a thickdielectric (7 microns thick) or photoresist is applied to the motherwafer, assuming a 14 micron wide IC pad, leaving an opening of 10microns on the pad, as in FIG. 186. Then the daughter wafer has itsbarrier layer added (FIG. 198) and liftoff of the unwanted barrier metaloccurs when the photoresist is stripped from the daughter (FIG. 199).Next, photolithography is performed on the daughter using a 10 micronresist target of, for example, Hoechst AZ4903 or Shipley STR1075 (FIG.200). Next the daughter and mother wafers are metalized by plating (FIG.201), on the mother wafer to a height of 4.4 to 5 microns above the ICcover glass and on the daughter wafer to a height of 6 to 8 microns (aswith FIG. 187). In addition, a cap of, for example, 400 Angstroms of Aucan be applied, depending upon the plating complexity. Then, thephotoresist is then stripped off (FIG. 202). Next, photolithographicpatterning is used on the mother wafer to prepare for adding the barrier(FIG. 203). Next, the barrier is deposited on the mother wafer (FIG.204). Again, the photoresist is stripped from the mother wafer (FIG.205). Thereafter, the excess seed is etched away using a self alignedetch as in FIG. 192. As with the deposition example above, if a sprayetcher is not available, additional photolithographic masking, etchingand stripping steps are required, making sure that the protected area issufficiently large to allow for the etch undercut.

At this point, the dice, align, tack and fuse processes can be preformedas desired to join the two together.

Based upon the above it is useful to note the advantages anddisadvantages to each approach, which will aid in the selection of theprocess style to use for a particular application.

The deposition approach for the daughter wafer has the advantages of: noseed layer, no electroplating, it is a one mask process, andautomatically having the compositional accuracy of Au/Sn. However, theapproach has the following disadvantages: thickness control from run torun can be difficult, “wings” of metal can appear if the directionalityof the deposition is off, and it may require an Au reclamation program.

The plating approach for the daughter wafer has the advantages that: thecost is lower and there is no need to do reclamation, it can besupported by major equipment vendors because conventional, currentlyavailable plating equipment can be used. However it has the disadvantagethat the compositional accuracy required is +1.5%/−2.5% and potentiallyrequires an additional mask step.

With the mother wafer, there are essentially three process variants:

1) electroless plating (illustrated in FIGS. 206 a (chip), 206 b(plating with 6-8 microns of Ni), 206 c (cap with 3000 Angstroms Au));

2) thin resist electroplating process with copper (illustrated in FIGS.207 a (first masking), 207 b (4.5 microns of copper), 207 c (2 micronsof Ni covered by a cap of 3000 Angstroms of Au), 207 d (second masking),207 e (etch away excess seed)); and

3) thick resist electroplating process with copper (illustrated in FIGS.208 a (first masking), 208 b (plating with copper), 208 c (secondmasking, barrier and cap), 208 d (third masking), 208 e (etch awayexcess seed)).

The attendant advantages and disadvantages of each are as follows. Theadvantages of the electroless approach include: no separate barrierdeposition; no seed layer deposition; no seed etch needed; and masklessProcess. However, electroless plating of nickel is more difficult tocontrol in terms of thickness or nodule formation which can affect yieldand therefore may not be suitable for high volume wafer yield. Theadvantages of the thin dielectric process include: thinner Ni is used,so the process is more controllable; copper places lower stress on theIC cover glass; use of copper is more mainstream; and electroplating ofcopper can be controlled better. However, the penetration of Ni/Au ontomushroom-shaped sidewalls can be inconsistent, potentially leaving somecopper exposed; a mushroom shape is not optimal for the tack process andadditional process steps are required (i.e. seed deposition, seed etch,etc.).

The advantages of the thick dielectric deposition process include:better contact or “bump” shape, full copper coverage by the barrier/cap,better control of uniformity and shape, lower Ni nodule formation,rendering it typically the highest yield process in volume. However,this approach potentially requires an extra mask step if a self alignedseed etch is not effective, so this approach may require a spray etcher.

In keeping with this discussion of deposition and plating variants, somefurther specific details of some mother and daughter contacts are nowprovided to provide a further understanding of the process.

FIG. 209 illustrates an example and some typical dimensions for a motherwafer contact, having 14 micron wide contact pads spaced on a 50 micronpitch, before barrier deposition.

FIG. 210 illustrates the contact of FIG. 209 after barrier and capdeposition.

FIG. 211 illustrates typical dimensions for a mother wafer contact,having 8 micron wide contact pads spaced on a 25 micron pitch.

FIG. 212 illustrates an example and some typical dimensions for adaughter wafer contact having 14 micron wide contact pads spaced on a 50micron pitch, created by deposition.

FIG. 213 illustrates an example and some typical dimensions for adaughter wafer contact having 8 micron wide contact pads spaced on a 25micron pitch, created by deposition.

FIG. 214 illustrates an example and some typical dimensions for a platedversion mother wafer contact, having 14 micron wide contact pads spacedon a 50 micron pitch before a self aligned seed etch is performed.

FIG. 215 illustrates the contact of FIG. 214 after the self aligned seedetch is performed.

It should be noted that the ranges for the Au/Sn presented in connectionwith FIG. 212 through FIG. 215 are representative of the more typicalranges. In practice, a range of from about Au_(0.7)Sn_(0.3) toAu_(0.9)Sn_(0.1) or even wider could be used if suitable temperatureadjustments are made (i.e. higher temperature for greater Au content andlower temperature with lower Sn content.

Having now described numerous through-chip connection variants andapplications relating to the electrical aspect of various interchipconnections, an additional alternative optional variant that takesadvantage of implementations involving an unfilled inner trench or voidor variants that do not expressly involve chip to chip signal transfercan now be presented.

In particular, alternative advantageous stacking variants can be createdif the innermost voids are left unfilled. By sealing the voids from thesurrounding parts, but leaving them open to each other, those voids canbe used, for example, to aid in cooling a stack of chips.

With this variant a series of wafers having such vias are stacked in away such that the material at the periphery of the vias protect the viasidewalls within the resultant semiconductor wafers and creates acontinuous, contiguous air and liquid-tight tube when they are attachedtogether. The stacked pieces are arranged so the tube extends throughsome or all of the stack. An end of the tube through the chip stack iscovered by a construction which has a condensing region, for example,they further connect to a tube embedded in a heat sink. When filled withthe appropriate fluid (and a wick if necessary), each of these tubes canact as a heat pipe, pulling heat away from the IC stack moreeffectively. Optionally, an electrically isolated metal can connect to,and extend outwards from, the heat pipe (like fins or plates) in betweenthe stacked chips on unused chip real estate so as to further increasethe heat transfer capabilities. Moreover, such fins or plates can beformed by the barrier or seed layers, potentially allowing them to playmultiple roles, for example, by acting as a shield or ground plane and afin at the same time allowing them to serve multiple roles.

This is accomplished, for example, as shown in FIG. 216, by using theinner via as part of a heat pipe arrangement. FIG. 216 illustrates insimplified fashion, a portion 21600 of a stack of chips, made up of somenumber of individual stacked chips 21602-1 through 21602-n+1 which maybe identical or dissimilar. In this example, the inner metalization 2402of each is connected to the one above or below (using a processdescribed herein, such as a post and penetration connection, or someother approach such as wafer fusion or covalent bonding) so as tohermetically seal the inner voids to each other and thereby creating atube 21604 within the chips. A suitable fluid 21606 (and if necessary awick 21608) is contained within the tube at an appropriate pressure suchthat a heat pipe is created that can assist in transferring heat fromthe individual chips 21602-1 through 21602-n+1 through which it passes,for example, to a heat sink 21610 or other cooling apparatus.

Depending upon the particular implementation, one end of the tube can besealed to the doped semiconductor material or substrate 21612 within achip (i.e. the tube does not go all the way through) or to surfacematerial of another chip that does not contain a portion of the tubeitself but merely acts as a stopper or plug. In addition, multiple tubescan be formed with each having a different working fluid or differentpressures for the respective working fluids (whether the same ordifferent) such that they have different vaporization and condensationtemperatures. In this manner, a broader range of heat pipe operation canbe obtained. Still further, those heat pipes can be grouped or dispersedabout the chips relative to thermal “hot spots” on the chips.

In some variants, the wick 21608, if present, can be made of, forexample, a porous or capillary structure, a scintered powder, a groovedtube, a mesh, a carbon nanotube structure, graphite or any othersuitable wick material. In addition, the working fluid can be any heatpipe fluid, provided that it will not corrode, degrade or otherwiseadversely affect the surfaces (i.e. doped semiconductor, substrate,insulator, conductor metal, etc.) with which it will come into contact.Typical working fluids can include water, an alcohol, acetone or, insome cases, mercury. In addition, in some variants, a material that is asolid at 1 Atm (101.3 kPa) and 68° F. (20° C.) can be used if it willvaporize or sublime in a suitable manner to provide the requisitetransfer of heat of vaporization required for a heat-pipe. Finally, itshould be noted that a pre-formed (i.e. previously fabricated) heat pipecan be used if it is of suitable dimensions for insertion into the innervia.

Advantageously, because this approach places the heat pipes closer towhere the heat is generated and such heat pipes can be interspersedthroughout the chip, the approach can increase the effectiveness ofwhatever cooling methods would additionally be employed. In addition, itshould be understood that the above approach can also be used to createheat pipes within chips where no electrical connections are desired orrequired.

Often, there is a desire to electrically isolate chips from one anotherto prevent electrical crosstalk. In addition, when stacking devicesvertically to take advantage of one of the via processes describedherein (or a variant thereof), there may be applications where it isdesirable to connect two chips together with a third chip whichcommunicates with both of them, may intervene between communicationsamong them or both. As should be appreciated from the preceding, theprocesses for forming inter-wafer connections, although illustratedinvolving one or two contacts, are independent of the number of totalcontacts and locations of where the mating chip contacts for the rest ofthe wafer reside (i.e. on one or more chips). This means that, in somecases, a single daughter chip can span two or more mother wafer chips ora “daughter wafer 2” chip can span two daughter chips or a mother anddaughter chip. Thus, spanning is a straightforward application of theprocess of adding of a “daughter wafer” or “daughter wafer 2”, theprocess being the same, but the full set of connections to which thedaughter chip will connect do not all have mates on the same chip.However, in certain cases of this variant, the two base chips (i.e.chips to be spanned by a single chip) may be of different heights. Thus,there is a need to deal with such a height differential. Advantageously,further variants of the via processes herein allow this to be achieved.FIG. 217A and FIG. 217B illustrate two examples of how to do so. FIG.217A illustrates the isolation aspect of this variant, whereas FIG. 217Billustrates the spanning connection aspect. In both cases, the sameshielding benefits can be obtained. In combination with previousapproaches, we can see that in step 1, one or more chips with a vias areattached to a base chip. In this case the via (or another contact postwhich connects to the top chip) is fabricated to extend some distanceabove the chip that was attached. This can be accomplished by, forexample, plating of metal or by removing substrate material to exposemore metal, depending upon which of the via process variants are used.In this approach, the vias are typically made before the chips arehybridized to each other. In the case of the chips of FIG. 217B, in step2 the wafers are coated with a layer of non-conductive material, such aspolyamide, BCB, another polymer, an oxygen or nitrogen containingdielectric, or other non-conductive material that can be deposited ontothe surface of a wafer. In the case shown in FIG. 217A, the thickness ofthe layer is determined by the need to isolate the two verticallystacked chips from one another. Since signal strength falls off withdistance, capacitive coupling falls proportional to distance and EMIinterference falls off proportional with the square of distance, thisthickness will usually be greater than the width of the signal line(e.g. >5 microns) but in some variants it could be much greater (e.g. 25microns or more) to get better isolation. As shown in FIG. 217B, the twoattached chips can be different heights. The reason for the heightdifference is not pertinent to the process, but could be due to theirbeing etched or thinned differently, made on substrates that wereoriginally different thicknesses or because of lapping or polishing,which can cause height differences of up to 100 microns or moredepending upon the care taken during the process. In any case, thecoating material is added so that it is at least as high as the top ofthe thickest chip attached to the base chip. If no rerouting layer isrequired (discussed below in conjunction with step 4), then this step 2might be optional in some variants of FIG. 217B. In step 3, the wafersare lapped or polished to expose the via or other tall plated orotherwise metalized connections of the various chips. In step 4(optional), to facilitate connection placement, the surface of thepolished/lapped wafers are patterned and an electrical rerouting layer(if needed) can be deposited on the surface. This allows two chips whichdo not have matching pads to be connected together by routing signals towhere they need to be to connect the chips together. Moreover, in thesituation of FIG. 217B, rerouting allows the two chips in the lowerlayer to be spaced further apart than the mating connections on the topchip which is placed in step 5. In step 5, of both FIG. 217A and FIG.217B, another chip is attached to the structure by one of thehybridization method variants, using for example, the malleable andrigid hybridization process. The process of steps 2 through 5 can thenbe repeated to add a subsequent layer (assuming of course that the chipattached in step 5 has or can have posts extending an appropriatedistance upward from the surface. Advantageously, the chip in step 5does not have to have vias unless it must connect to additional layerson top of that structure.

FIG. 218A and FIG. 218B illustrate an alternate variant approach foraccomplishing the task of FIG. 217A or FIG. 217B. In this alternatevariant approach, rather than thinning the chip in step 3 of the processof FIG. 217A or FIG. 217B, holes are etched in the planarizationmaterial, which, in this example and typically, will be polyimide. Then,the reroute layer of step 4 is used to both reroute electrical signals(if needed) and to make connections to lower chips. Next, hybridizationcan occur as in step 5 of FIG. 218A or FIG. 218B. This procedure is morecomplex than the approach of FIG. 217A or FIG. 217B, since makingelectrical contacts after hybridization is required. However, as shownin step 6 of FIG. 218B, this process is more amenable to having asubsequent chip connect to multiple other layers simultaneously than inFIG. 217B. To do the same thing in the approach of FIG. 217B is moredifficult, since polishing in step 3 of FIG. 217B would likely polishall the posts to the same height, thereby making it difficult to attachthe upper level daughter chip down to the lowest level daughter chip.

As noted herein, stacks can be formed an arbitrary multiple number ofelements high. However, depending upon the particular instance, in somecases the effect and geometry of the stacking needs to be considered inaddition to the decision of whether to join in a tack, fuse, tack, fuseapproach or a tack, tack, tack, overall fuse approach. For example, in awafer scale stacking process such as described herein using through viaconnections, a decision must be made whether to pre-thin the originaldaughter wafer before it is diced for joining with the mother wafer orwhether it should be joined to the mother wafer (on a per chip or entirewafer basis) and then thinned. The difference is as follows. The tack,fuse, thin, tack, fuse, thin approach has an advantage in that iteliminates a few steps and, more importantly, eliminates the handling ofvery thin wafers if they are thinned before dicing and joining which candetract from the yield. The disadvantage is that it requires more touchlabor on hybridized parts—thinning on a more expensive hybridized partversus just the daughter wafer(s) (detracting from yield).

Another disadvantage occurs when there are several daughter stacks onthe mother chip when each stack has different numbers of chips.Placement and ordering of thinning becomes important because a separatethinning step needs to happen for each layer of chips on the motherwafer. As a result, without proper planning, a point will be reachedwhere some stacks cannot have additional chips added because they willbe below the height of an adjacent stack, rendering thinning of thatchip difficult or impossible.

In contrast, thinning prior to joining has the advantage that it canalways be performed, however its disadvantage, noted above, is theincreased risk associated with having thin wafers.

Having described numerous different alternative, optional andcomplementary variants, an example application of the above is nowpresented with reference to FIGS. 219 through 221 to illustrate someadditional advantages that can be achieved in a particular application,namely a microprocessor application.

FIG. 219 illustrates in simplified form a representative exampleconventional microprocessor chip 21900 and identifying its respectiveconstituent elements (i.e. an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), Registers(REG), Buffers and other Logic (BUFFER & LOGIC), Input-Output (I/O),First Level Cache Memory (L1), Second Level Cache Memory (L2), MemoryControls (MEM CTL), Memory Read-Write Control (R/W CTL), Random AccessMemory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM) and Memory Decoding Circuits(RAM/ROM DECODE) laid out in a conventional co-planar manner. As can beseen, the constituent elements take up a considerable amount of area andthe distance between any given component and most of the othercomponents is fairly large.

FIG. 220 illustrates in simplified form how, through use of approachesdescribed above, an alternative microprocessor can be constructed fromthe same elements while having a smaller footprint, mixing of high andlow speed technology, and substantially reduced distances betweenelements. Specifically FIG. 220A shows an example alternativemicroprocessor 22000, that is made up of the elements from FIG. 219,having a reduced footprint through use of through-chip connections asdescribed herein and stacking of the elements. Through stacking, theelements are formed into chip units 22002, 22004, 22006 (side views) andrespectively shown in exploded and views 22008, 22010, 22012) therebyreducing the overall footprint covered by their constituentsub-components. In addition, as shown in the respective side views22008, 22010, 22012, because of the through-chip connections, thedistance between all of the sub-components of each chip unit 22002,22004, 22006 is substantially reduced. Moreover, the chip-to-chipconnections within each chip unit 22002, 22004, 22006 are not requiredto be about the periphery, but can, in fact, be at nearly any locationon a sub-component chip.

FIG. 221 shows a direct comparison of the footprint of the chip 21900 ofFIG. 219 to that of the chip 22000 of FIG. 220. As is evident, thefootprint of the latter is substantially less than that of the formerdespite their both having the same size and number of elements.

Still further advantages can be achieved if the chips are designed withthe likelihood of stacking in mind. For example, in the example of FIG.220, different mix and match configurations of the processing unit22006, 22012 can be designed because each sub-component chip can beindependently designed and need only share a common interface with theother. Thus, one could design several different ALUs of different speedsand thereby more easily create a common family of processing chip units.Similarly, different size L2 caches can be designed for use in theprocessing chip unit 22006 to allow for price-point differentiation orperformance enhancements within the families. This concept is aspecialized case of what is described below as intelligent, activepackaging.

As can be seen from the immediately preceding discussion, furtheroutgrowth of the processes and aspects described herein is the abilityto efficiently create different kinds of “packaging” than previouslyused (FIG. 222).

At present, complex integrated circuit chips are created and packaged asshown in FIG. 222A. Through front-end processing, the low speedfunctions, high speed functions, I/O and high speed (i.e. core analogand digital) functions are all created on a chip. Next, back-endprocessing adds metalization in layers to the chip to create theconnections among the various on-chip devices. Finally, when the chip iscompleted, it is attached to a separate package such as a pin gridarray, ball grid array, conventional IC package, etc. That approach hasnumerous drawbacks including the requirement that, since all devicesreside on the same chip, all devices must be implemented in the highestspeed/highest cost technology necessary for any on-chip device. As aresult, high cost “real estate” is wasted on low cost and/or low costdevices that could readily be implemented in a slower or cheapertechnology.

By using aspects described herein however, different types of packagingcan be used to advantageously aid in optimizing cost, time to process,and risk of low yield, to name a few. For example, through use ofaspects as described herein, configurations such as illustrated in FIG.222B through 222F can be created.

FIG. 222B illustrates one representative example arrangement attainableusing aspects described herein we call a routingless architecturebecause it separates the routing process from the chip formation processand allows them to be performed concurrently. In the example, a chip(Chip 1) is created using the front end processing that contains the lowspeed functions, I/O and core analog and digital functions. A secondchip is created (Chip 2) using the back end process to create themetalized layers that will interconnect the devices on Chip 1. Then,Chip 1 and Chip 2 are hybridized together, for example, using anapproach described herein, through a wafer-to-wafer or covalent bondingapproach, wafer fusion, etc. Then this hybridized unit can be treated asa conventional chip and connected to a conventional package in theconventional manner or further processed, for example as describedherein, for hybridization to another wafer, chip or element.

Another alternative approach is illustrated in FIG. 222C and we callthis approach a “chip package” approach because chip interconnectionsare part of the package. This approach is similar to that of FIG. 222Bwith respect to Chip 1 except, with this approach, either the back-endprocessing is performed on a wafer portion that will also serve as thepackage or the back end processing to create the routing is performed onone wafer, the package is created on another, and the two are processedas described herein so that they can be hybridized together to form a“Chip 2” for this approach. Thereafter, the Chip 1 and Chip 2 of thisapproach can be processed and hybridized together as described herein.Optionally and alternatively, the processing needed for thehybridization of the “Chip 1” to the “Chip 2” can be performed, in wholeor part, as part of the processing necessary to hybridize the routingportion to the package portion. Advantageously, with this approach andappropriate design planning, the “Chip 2” design can be generic tomultiple different Chip 1 designs, resulting in further potential costand other savings.

Yet another alternative approach is shown in FIG. 222D and we call thisapproach an “active package” approach because, with this approach, the“Chip 2” creation process adds the low speed functions to the package“Chip 2” as opposed to being part of the main “Chip 1” of this approach.Thereafter, the Chip 1 and Chip 2 can be hybridized together orconnected together through other means appropriate to the particularapplication. This enables a reduction in use of higher cost real estateby low speed/low cost devices. Here to, if the low speed functions aremore generic, further advantages and savings can be achieved.

A further alternative approach is illustrated in FIG. 222E. Thisapproach is similar to that of FIG. 222D except that I/O is moved fromthe “Chip 1” technology to the “Chip 2” to create what we call an“active package with I/O” approach. As a result, with this approach, the“Chip 1” will simply contain the core analog and core digital functions.Here too, the chips can be hybridized or otherwise interconnected toeach other for operability. Again, I/O is typically low speed and largesized, so substantial savings can be achieved with this approach.Similarly, careful design can still allow the “Chip 2” of this approachto be generic to multiple “Chip 1” designs, thereby again providingadvantages over the conventional approach of FIG. 222A.

Yet a further approach, the most sophisticated of the approaches, isillustrated in FIG. 222F. We call this approach a “system on chip” or“system stack.” With this approach, only the core digital functionsreside on a “Chip 1” of the appropriate speed/cost technology. A “Chip2” is similarly created that simply has the core analog functions of theappropriate speed/cost technology. A “Chip 3” is also created and merelyincludes the I/O function implemented in its own appropriate technology.Finally, a “Chip 4”, which essentially corresponds to the “Chip 2” ofFIG. 222D is created. Advantageously, through this approach, significantmixing and matching can occur because, in many cases, the Chip 1, Chip2, Chip 3 and Chip 4 designs can be designed with only the chip to whichthey will attach in mind. Moreover, as should be apparent, this approachallows for each chip to be, for example, one of a family of chips forthat function, all sharing a common interface.

Thus, all of the approaches of FIG. 222B through FIG. 222F make itpossible to create intelligent, active packages so that designers canbreak up their designs such that most, if not all, circuits use thetechnology best suited to their function. In some cases, this can meancreation of wholly new designs and in other cases using existing chipsin combination with each other, in both cases using one or more aspectsof variants described herein. In this regard, it should be understoodthat the functions represented in such examples are not intended to meanthat those particular aspects must be broken up in the way shown, butmerely to illustrate a concept. It is equally possible that, forexample, a chip could be created that contained some of the analogfunctions and some of the digital functions, as could another chip—asopposed to a single chip for each function group—the key point being theability to match portions of an overall design to their appropriatetechnologies and, through our approaches, achieve a functional resultthat is similar to what is conventionally done (e.g. FIG. 222A) or aresult that was previously not possible or cost prohibitive because ofthe limitations inherent in the conventional approach of FIG. 222A.

As a result, low performance circuitry can be designed on one chip andhigh performance chips can be designed for higher performancetechnology. Moreover, this type of approach can be more cost efficientbecause a significant amount of high-speed technology real estate can besaved by moving low-speed circuits “off-chip” without needing powerfulsignal driver circuits to do so. Some examples of the myriad ofpossibilities are shown, in connection with a high-level representationof the processes described herein, in FIG. 223.

At this point, some further discussion of portions of the aspectsdescribed above will be detailed. At present, in order to create anelectronic chip, a wafer has to undergo two sets of processes—front-endprocessing and back-end processing. In front-end processing, the actualdevices, including transistors and resistors are created. This involves,in the case of a silicon chip, for example, growth of silicon dioxide,patterning and implantation or diffusion of dopants to obtain thedesired electrical properties, growth or deposition of gate dielectrics,and growth or deposition of insulating materials to isolate neighboringdevices.

In back end processing, the various devices created during the front-endprocess are interconnected to form the desired electrical circuits. Thisinvolves, for example, depositing layers of the metal traces that formthe interconnections, as well as insulating material, and etching itinto the desired patterns. Typically, the metal layers consist ofaluminum or copper. The insulating material is typicallysilicon-dioxide, a silicate glass, or other low dielectric constantmaterials. The metal layers are interconnected by etching vias in theinsulating material and depositing tungsten in them.

At present, for a 12″ wafer, using 90 nm processes, front- and back-endprocessing each take about 20 days to complete, and they occur serially.As a result, it can take more than 40 days to fabricate a single waferfrom start to finish.

Advantageously, using the processes described herein, that time can becut to nearly half for most current submicron design rule based chipfabrication technologies (for example, 0.5 μm, 0.18 μm, 0.13 μm, 90 nm,65 nm, 45 nm, etc. . . . ) because the above approaches can allow front-and back-end processing to occur concurrently, in parallel and even indifferent and unrelated foundries. This is accomplished by performingthe front-end processing in a conventional manner on one wafer (afront-end or “FE-wafer”) and back-end processing in the conventionalmanner on another wafer (a back-end or “BE-wafer”), in parallel, as ifthe two were the same wafer. In this way, the routing can be performedin a cheap foundry, relative to the transistor or other device-bearingportion, and each can be created in about 20 days. Then, by thinning thewafer and creating connection points on the back side of the FE-waferthrough use of one variant of the via processes described herein,connection points can be established thereon. In a similar manner, theprocesses described herein can be used with the BE-wafer to create a setof complementary connection points corresponding to those on theFE-wafer. Thereafter, the two can be joined together using, for example,a tack and fuse approach, if malleable and rigid correspondingconnections are formed (typically with the FE-wafer being the daughterwafer of the above processes (i.e. carrying the malleable contact), aremote attachment approach as described herein, covalent or other wafersurface bonding techniques (alone, with a through-via approach, and/orwith simple filled vias that serve to lock the two together and maintainalignment, or some combination thereof/alternative thereto.

Advantageously, through this approach, the metal layers do not have tobe limited in thickness or density as might be required by the topologyand stress limitations imposed by ever increasingly sensitivetransistors. In addition, by separating the process into two chips,lines can be larger and there can be more layers, thereby potentiallyallowing greater in-chip connectivity and lower parasitic resistance forfaster cross-chip communication.

Advantageously, because our approach is independent of the particularfabrication or interconnect technology used to create the particularFE-wafer or BE-wafer, or the design rules applicable to suchfabrication, the processes described herein can be used to bringdissimilar technologies together at the nano-level. In other words, theapproaches described herein are independent of whatever chip designrules are appropriate to ensure that devices or their interconnectionsdo not overlap or interact with one another in undesirable ways for theparticular material (a Si wafer, a GaAs wafer, a SiGe wafer, a Ge wafer,an InP wafer, an InAs wafer, an InSb wafer, a GaN wafer, a GaP wafer, aGaSb wafer, a MgO wafer, a CdTe wafer, a CdS wafer, etc.), or what highresolution mask or non-mask based approaches are used to form submicronor sub-nanometer features or define spacing between devices, theirinterconnections, or the geometries of the interconnections themselves.Thus, the advance described herein allows for chip fabricationtechnology to shift from current technologies, for example, CMOS andsilicon, to SiGe, silicon-on-insulator (SOI), carbon nanotube basedinterconnects, biochip, molecular electronics or other approachesdesigned to give greater performance and/or reduce power requirements.

FIGS. 224 through 231 illustrate in simplified overview this approach.As shown in FIG. 224 a, an FE-wafer 22402, having had its front-endprocessing to form the transistors and other devices completed, has thefront-side devices protected using a photoresist or other removable butprotective material 22502 to provide support (FIG. 225 a). The FE-waferis then thinned down as necessary (FIG. 226 a) to a thickness of a fewmicrons or larger (i.e. removing some or all of the underlyingsubstrate) as needed based upon the required or desired height for thecombined FE/BE chips. Vias are then created from and into the back sideof the FE-wafer to the appropriate device connection location pointsusing, for example a back-side process as described herein or a frontside via process as described herein, simply performed from the backside (FIG. 227 a). Optionally, in addition one or more through-vias22702 are created at the periphery of each die that is slightly flaredon the device side and has, for example, a malleable contact on the backside, using, for example, a well or reverse well approach or one side ofa pressure fit connection. Such vias can serve to “lock” the FE- andBE-wafer chips together laterally relative to each other if, forexample, a covalent or wafer surface joining approach will be usedbetween the two. Still further, accommodation for inter-chip connectionsin the form of vias that will become part of a heat-pipe arrangement ornon-electrical communication arrangement (both of which are described ingreater detail below) can be added. The vias are then made conductive(FIG. 228) and, at this point the FE-wafer will be ready to join to aBE-wafer.

Concurrently, the BE-wafer is created to form its metalized layers 22404(FIG. 224 b). Given its makeup, no protection/support may be necessarybecause the semiconductor material can serve that purpose. However, ifit too will be thinned substantially, application of a removablesupporting layer may be necessary. The front side of the BE-wafer isthen thinned (FIG. 226 b) and, in addition, vias can be created (FIG.227 b) and metalized (FIG. 228 b) if necessary or desired completelythrough or merely down to a particular internal metal layer FIG. 227 b,FIG. 228 b). In addition, depending upon the particular implementation,contact to that internal layer can be by physical connection ornon-physical (i.e. capacitive) coupling. Otherwise, complementaryconnections are created, for example, posts if a post andpenetration/tack and fuse approach is to be used, or the complementaryconnections for a well, reverse well or other connection. Similarly, andoptionally, complementary locking vias 22704 (FIG. 227 b) can be addedto the BE-wafer, or vias that will become part of a heat-pipearrangement or non-electrical communication arrangement can be added.Moreover, if a heat-pipe arrangement is to be used, it may be desirableto use the BE-wafer metalization (FIG. 228 b) to seal one end of theheat-pipe, particularly if the malleable/rigid and tack/fuse approachesare used due to the strength and hermetic nature of the seal that can beformed.

The FE-wafer and BE-wafer are then aligned relative to each other (FIG.229), so that once they are brought together (FIG. 230) and joined (FIG.231) they will form a completed wafer unit of individual electronicchips.

FIG. 233 through FIG. 235 illustrate further variants of the precedingapproach. As with the approach of FIG. 224 through FIG. 231, thealternate variants begin with the separate FE-wafer (FIG. 232A), made upof doped semiconductor devices 23202 (i.e. transistors, lasers,photodetectors, capacitors, diodes, etc.) on a substrate 23204, andBE-wafer (FIG. 232B) containing the metalized future inter-deviceconnection layers. However, unlike the approach of FIG. 224 through FIG.231, the BE wafer is flipped, aligned and bonded to the top of theFE-wafer and this occurs before the substrate is thinned off (FIG.232A). Alternatively, the same approach as FIG. 232A can be performed asshown in FIG. 232B wherein the BE-wafer is thinned before attachment.

Yet another alternative approach is illustrated in FIG. 234. In thisinstance, the BE-wafer is thinned to exponse the most internal layer ofthe original chip from FIG. 232B and that layer is attached to the topof the FE-wafer.

FIG. 235 illustrates a further enhancement or alternative variant. As aresult of the approaches of FIG. 231, FIG. 232B, FIG. 233B or FIG. 234,after attachment, the other side of the BE-wafer's metal is exposed. Asa result, another chip can be attached to that metal as well to createanother type of chip stacking approach.

At this point it should be noted that a further advantage to theseapproaches is that, if necessary, some further rerouting of connectionscan be made on the FE-wafer or BE-wafer (or possibly both). As a result,it is even possible to create the FE- and BE-wafers to be more generic,with the other providing suitable connection locations for a particularapplication. Moreover, at this point, the combined FE/BE-wafer orFE/BE/(FE-wafer or chip) stack can be treated like any other wafercreated using wholly conventional processes, and thus can be a mother ordaughter wafer with respect to other wafer(s) for purposes of thesubject matter described herein.

Still further, chip units can be designed that use much higher speedcommunication between chips than are available with wired connections,due to problems related to cross-talk causing interference, through useof chip-to-chip optical connections. For example, by placing asemiconductor laser on one chip in a stack and a corresponding photodetector on the other chip in the stack to which it is mated, anoptical—rather than wired—connection can made between the two. If thetwo are sufficiently close to each other, the possibility of evenoptical crosstalk is minimized. This aspect is illustrated in simplifiedfashion in FIG. 236 which shows a portion of a chip unit 23600comprising two chips 23602, 23604. One of the chips 23602 has a laser23606 thereon and the other chip 23604 has a photodetector 23608 thereonwith the two arranged so that optical signals emitted by the laser 23606are received by the photodetector 23608. Moreover, the techniquesdescribed herein facilitate optical communication between chips even ifthere are one or more chips interposed between the two. For example, asshown in FIG. 237, a variant of the heat pipe configuration can becreated to get light from the laser-bearing chip 23602 to thephotodetector-bearing chip 23604 even though there are two other chips23702, 23704 interposed between the two. To do so, a through-chipapproach is used but the inner void is neither filled with anyelectrical conductor nor left open for use as a heat pipe, but ratherthe void is filled with an optically transmissive medium 23706, like anoptical epoxy or other light carrying material, to form an opticalwaveguide. With the optical waveguide, the metal and/or insulator actsto confine the light so that the via operates similar to an opticalfiber. Moreover, by adjusting the via size and the composition of theouter metal or insulator, the waveguide can have essentially the sameproperties as a single mode or multi-mode optical fiber. Still further,with a variant having a “central island” of silicon, if the centralisland is thermally oxidized and not removed, the oxidation will causethe center island to become silicon dioxide and would be a surrogate foran optical fiber “core.” Thereafter, by placing a laser at one end ofthe waveguide and a photodetector at the other end of the waveguide, thelaser light can now be carried “through” the interposed chip(s) via thetransmissive medium 23706.

Detailed Contact and Material Alternatives

As will now be appreciated, the contacts fairly complex aspects, in andof themselves due to the nature of the tack and fuse processes,reiterated in simplified form in FIG. 238. As a result, it is importantto note some of the alternative materials that can be used for thecontact components for both the daughter wafer 23802 and the motherwafer 23804.

In general, whatever the application, a daughter wafer contact 23802 ofFIG. 238 will have the functional layers shown in FIG. 239. Similarly, amother wafer contact 23804 of FIG. 238 will have the functional layersshown in FIG. 240. It is noteworthy that, for both contacts 23802,23804, each functional layer could be made up of one or more materiallayers or a single material layer could fill the role of multiplefunctional layers. This is best illustrated by way of some specificdaughter wafer contact examples such as shown in FIG. 241 and somespecific mother wafer contact examples such as shown in FIG. 242. Fromthese figures it will be apparent that any particular layer could bemade up of a discrete material, an alloy or a superlattice of materials.

Referring back to FIG. 239, in the case of an electroless variant, thedaughter contact 23802 could have the following constituents:

Barrier Layer: Ti/W+Pd

Standoff Layer: Absent

Diffusion/Malleable Layer: Gold/Tin (80/20) (between 1 and 12 microns)

Cap/Adhesion: Gold (>500 Angstroms; Typically 1500 to 10,000 Angstroms)

Oxidation Barrier: the Cap/Adhesion layer serves as this layer also.Note, while the malleable layer may be composed of any combination ofstandoff, diffusion, cap and barrier layer, here the malleable is thecombination of the diffusion and cap layers.

Similarly, for the mother contact (with reference to FIG. 240), themother contact 23304 could have the following constituents:

Barrier Layer: Absent for Cu/Al pads

Rigid: Copper (>2 microns)

Diffusion Barrier Layer: Nickel (5000 Angstroms; typically 0.5 to 3microns)

Cap/Diffusion: Gold (>500 Angstroms; typically 1500 to 10,000 Angstroms)

With respect to the above, the following sets forth further,non-exhaustive, alternative materials that can be used for the specifiedcontact layers.

Barrier (mother or daughter)/Diffusion Barrier (mother): This could be,for example, Ni, Cr, Ti/Pt, Ti/Pd/Pt, Ti/Pt/Au, Ti/Pd, Ti/Pd/Au,Ti/Pd/Pt/Au, TiW, Ta, TaN, Ti, TaW, W, or could be absent if the IC padis made of the same material as the standoff layer. Standoff Layer(daughter)/Rigid Layer (mother): Ni (especially if barrier is Ni), Cu(especially if pad is Cu), Al, Au, W, Pt, Pd, Co, or Cr. If sputteredrather than plated, then any type of metal which has a meltingtemperature higher (typically >50° C. higher) than the meltingtemperature of the malleable (diffusion) material. It could also be madeof any of the barrier materials.

Malleable (Diffusion) Material: A metal that melts at low temperaturelike: tin, indium, lead, bismuth, aluminum, zinc, magnesium or othermaterial with melting point less than 1000° C. or an alloy combining twoor more of those together, or combining one or more of those togetherwith a higher temperature melting material like gold, silver, copper,titanium, or other analogous material. Combination examples include:Au/Sn, Cu/Sn, Cu/Zn, Bi/Ag, etc. Note: An important aspect for thisselection is that it is not desirable for the selected material toactually melt during the attach process since that would be too slow ofa process, adding to cost, and could cause problems with creep orrunning causing contact shorting and thus limiting the density. It isthe malleable/rigid combination which ultimately gives the strength ofthe contact. Typically an alloy containing compounds with mixtures ofone or more of: Au, Ag, Bi, Cd, Cu, Fe, In, Pb, Sn, Sb, or Zn are goodchoices. The primary condition is that the melting temperature should beless than or equal to the melting temperature of the rigid post and, ifpresent, the standoff layer. Typically, the malleable should have amelting point of at least 50° C. lower than the melting point of therigid, although we have used a melting point differential of between100° C. to 500° C. Advantageously, the malleable material can also bebuilt up of several materials to give the proper the height needed toovercome non-planarity of the contacts. In fact the malleable materialcan be built on top of a standoff post of the rigid material. Forexample, in one case, the malleable material could consist of Au/Sn, 5microns high. Alternatively, in another case, the post could consist ofa stack of a rigid material such as 4 microns of nickel covered by athinner layer, for example, 1 to 1.5 microns, of the malleable material.

Malleable Cover Material (Cap/Adhesion layer): These can be a materialthat could become wet under temperature, such as a low-temperature metal(or alloy) like tin, indium, lead or zinc. Note that this cover materiallayer is generally much thinner than the malleable material layer. Forexample, it would normally be around 10 to 20 times thinner. Forexample, if the malleable (plus any standoff) material were 5 micronshigh, the malleable cover material could be 0.5 microns, and wouldtypically in the range of 0.1 micron to 1 micron (or about 50× to 5×thinner than the malleable layer). One good example of such a cover istin (Sn). Such a cover material will have a low melting temperature andcan turn liquidus at the tack temperature. However, because the layer isvery thin, it will not cause shorting between adjacent contacts as thereis not enough liquid; to do so. At the same time it can make for aquicker attach process to the rigid cap, because the tack phase becomesa liquid process. In general, this cover should be selected so as to becompatible with the malleable material so that, after fuse, theresultant combination would be suitable for a strong bond. For the tinexample, such an approach would typically use a Au/Sn contact with a Sncap.

Malleable Cover Material (Oxidation Barrier)/Rigid Cover Material(diffusion cap): If the adhesion layer is used for the “tack” processand it is a material prone to oxidize, like tin or zinc, then it shouldbe covered with a very thin oxidation barrier. Otherwise, a reactive gasor liquid should be used during the tack process to remove the oxide, ora high enough pressure must be used to break through the oxide, as canhappen for example, if indium is used as the cap. The cover can even bean epoxy. For most materials, a thickness of 10 times thinner than thecap itself will work. Note again that the malleable cover could be of ahigher temperature material that only becomes a lower-temperature alloy(or only becomes a bonding agent) when the malleable cover materialcomes into contact with and begins to mix with the rigid cover materialor with the malleable material. For example if the two covers were twoparts of a mixable epoxy or if the oxidation barrier were gold and themalleable gold-tin then the intermixing of the tin into the oxidationlayer during the attach process would cause that material to have alower melting point. In general, this layer can be any metal/materialwhich does not readily oxidize (e.g. Au, Pt, etc.).

FIGS. 243A through 243C are photographs of cross sections of actualcontacts (mother and daughter) formed using variants of the above in atack and fuse process that show an example of the different layers andhow they do or do not interact.

FIG. 243A is a pair of contacts connecting a mother wafer and daughterwafer following completion of the tack phase of the tack and fuseprocess. As can be seen, while there is a good connection between thetwo, it is not permanent, as evidenced by the large area of unconnectedmaterial.

FIG. 243B is a similar contact pair following completion of the fusephase. Here, the permanent connection is evident as is the value ofusing barriers. Note that in both FIG. 237A and FIG. 237B, the malleablematerial has largely been trapped between the barriers.

FIG. 243C is a photograph of a similarly joined pair of contacts, alsofollowing the fuse phase. In this picture, although the components arenot as clearly visible, the IC pads of the mother and daughter wafersare and they provide a sense of the relative size relationship betweenthe two.

Connection-Related Tooling

Having described numerous different approaches for interconnection ofchips on a chip, die and wafer basis, and various details that make itpossible to employ many permutations, variations and combinationsthereof, it is useful to diverge and describe certain different types oftooling that have been devised and can be advantageously used to assistin the joining process. Note that none of these tooling approaches areessential for accomplishing any of the permutations, variations orcombinations, but rather they have been developed to ease the processand can be used for other chip-related operations, like “pick andplace,” particularly where it is desirable to simultaneously do so formultiple chips at the same time and even more advantageously, incircumstances where those chips vary in height with respect to eachother.

For purposes of explanation, different tooling variants will bedescribed with respect to use in the tack and fuse process, since anunderstanding of that approach will obviate the need to describe thesimpler uses, since they will be a subset or trivial variant thereof.

As described herein, the attachment process is split into two parts: Afirst part in which chips are lightly attached together (the “tack”phase) and a second part, the “fuse” phase that provides the bondstrength. The tack process heats up the contacts and keeps them abuttingunder light pressure to allow the materials on the two correspondingcontacts to interdiffuse into one another.

During this process, if the force of gravity alone is not sufficient toprovide for the requisite pressure, a small amount of pressure can beapplied to ensure that the chips do not move during the process reducingthe prospect of mechanical shock or non-uniformity in attachment, eitherof which could result in less than adequate adhesion between thecontacts and thereby an inability to withstand wafer handling. Inaddition, the pressure can help ensure that if any local heating causesthe malleable material to become partially or completely liquidus (orsimply become more malleable than ideal without becoming liquidus, andcounteract the pressures and surface tensions or other forces that mightotherwise push the pieces apart or, in the case where excess softness ofthe malleable material occurs, it can prevent excess lateral movement ofthe parts individually and collectively Thus, the application of slightpressure can ensure more latitude in the temperatures and handlingconditions for the fuse process to account for manufacturing tolerancesand variations.

However, one of the problems with putting pressure on these chips isthat if the base element, for example a wafer, has multiple chips whichare attached to it, the individual chips might not be co-planar andcould even differ significantly in height. Thus, if one were to simplyplace a flat surface or plate on the top of the chips, the appliedpressure would be unevenly applied.

As illustrated below, the approaches devised for addressing theforegoing is to use an arrangement between the source of the force andthe chips that will conform to or account for the different heights andthus allow all chips to have equal pressure applied to them.

One approach for accomplishing this uses a series of pins or posts thatmatch with the individual chips on a one-to-one basis as thearrangement. Two different variants of this approach will now bedescribed with the understanding that other variants can be devised by,for example, combining aspects from each or from the other toolingapproaches as described below.

FIGS. 244 through 247 illustrate example tooling for implementing a pinor post based approach.

As illustrated in FIG. 244 and FIG. 245, the approach uses a set of pinsor posts 24402 within a frame 24404. The individual pins or posts aremovable at least along their length axis (some implementations can alsoallow for a sleight degree of pivot if planarity or tilt is a potentialissue). The posts or pins can be constrained and released. Each post orpin has a face surface that is configured to contact a single respectivechip.

Depending upon the particular implementation, the face of any particularpin or post can be: flat, an inverse die of the chip it will applypressure to, or some other shape appropriate for the particularapplication. In addition, the pin or post itself at or near the face (aswell as along some or all of its length) can have a circular crosssection or some other, non-circular (i.e. oval, quadrilateral,hexagonal, octagonal, etc.) closed shape. Moreover, the perimeter andplanar area of the face can be larger or smaller than the perimeter orarea of the particular chip it will contact (i.e. it can extend beyondthe periphery of the chip or be wholly or partially contained within it,the important aspect being that the face is configured to apply force tothe chip without damaging it, particularly without cracking or chippingit.

In use, the posts within the frame (and in some cases, the frame itself)are brought downward, in an unconstrained condition, until each post isin appropriate contact with its respective chip (FIG. 245). Once this isthe case, the pins are constrained in place. As a result, an appropriatelevel of force can be applied to the frame, or in some implementationsthe pins or posts. As the tool is brought down, it only applies verticalforce on the chips. so that the force will be evenly transmitted via thepins or posts to the respective chips.

Thereafter, the joining process can continue as described herein or insome other manner.

FIG. 246 and FIG. 247 illustrate an alternative pin or post basedapproach that is similar to the approach of FIG. 244 and FIG. 245 exceptthat, instead of a single pin or post per chip it uses a group ofsmaller pins or posts to contact an individual chip. As a result, withthis approach, the individual pins or posts within a group can be usedto account for nonplanarity or height variations of a single chip.Moreover, depending upon the particular implementation, if the group isconfigured such that at least some pins are beyond the peripheralboundary of the chip, by extending them so that they extend below theupper surface of the chip, they can serve to constrain the chip fromlateral movement. Otherwise, the approach is the same as with thepin/post-per-chip (i.e. the faces 24606 of unconstrained groupspins/posts are brought into contact with their respective chips andconstrained so that a force can be applied via the frame, groups orpins. Moreover, the individual pins/posts in the group can have acircular or non-circular cross section near their respective faces.Moreover, as will become evident below, by selecting the appropriateshapes for the pins, spacing between the pins/posts in a group can becreated or eliminated and certain advantages can be achieved.

Note that the individual pins/posts or groups (if multiple pins/postsper chip) need to be wide enough to ensure that any pressure transferredby them to the chips does not crack the chips and they should be placedso that they do not clip an edge or a corner of a chip during theprocess.

In both cases, by using the frame to hold the posts or pins, onceconstrained, the posts or pins can only meaningfully move in thevertical direction, allowing the structure to only apply verticalpressure while conforming to the topography of the chips attached to thewafer.

Advantageously, as noted herein, where a tack and fuse approach is used,the forces needed for the “tack” step will typically be on the order of1 gram per contact or less and for the fuse process, typically less than0.001 grams per contact. As a result, the pins or posts can be readilyconstrained within the frame without difficulty through, for example aclamping or other locking approach, the particular approach being amatter of design choice and unimportant for understanding the toolingand its use.

Advantageously, in some implementations, either of the above tooling canbe further enhanced by making it possible to apply a vacuum to thechips. In the case of the pin/post-per-chip tooling, this can beaccomplished by providing passageways 24412, 24414 through the post andopenings on the post face 24406. Alternatively, with thegroup-of-pins/posts approach, the pins/posts themselves can house thepassage through which the vacuum is drawn. Alternatively, by selectingthe appropriate shapes and spacings for the pins/posts, passages amongabutting pins can be formed (within the chip boundary) or eliminated(near the chip periphery) so as to allow for the vacuum to be drawnthrough those interstitial passages.

In either tooling instance, with such a variant, a vacuum can be appliedto the chips to, for example, allow for the tooling itself to be used ina pick-and-place operation or for the vacuum to further inhibitnon-vertical (i.e. undesirable) movement of the chip during, forexample, the tack or fuse processes.

Through a further alternative approach, a material can be applied to theface 24406, 24606 of the pins or posts which will cause them toinitially adhere to the chips, but is also selected so as to be able to“detach” from the chip when the operation is complete. For example, amaterial can be used on the faces that will liquify and run, melt orvaporize at about the tack or fuse temperature but, in doing so will notdamage the chips and, if it leaves a residue on the chip or element towhich the chip is attached, the residue can be removed through somenon-damaging process or ignored without detrimental effect.

While the post/pin solution provides only vertical motion, someimplementations of that approach do not actually hold the chips in placeand, in some cases, cannot guarantee that force will be uniformlyapplied across each chip or that the chips will not tilt in angleduring, for example, the tack or fuse process. Thus, in some cases,movement of the chips or non-uniform fusing, across individual chips orbetween chips with different heights, could occur.

In such cases, an alternative tooling approach, shown in FIG. 248 andFIG. 249 can be used that involves a spongy, flexible, conformable ordeformable material 24802 arranged between a rigid plate 24804 and thedaughter chips 24906 which, as shown in FIG. 249, would conform oradjust itself to the heights of the various parts while keeping pressureover the chips and preventing localized pressure which could result inscratching, chipping or damage to the chips. This approach uses a spongyor deformable material of suitable thickness for the particularapplication (typically between 0.01″ and 0.125″). Non-exhaustiveexamples of such materials include, but are not limited to for example,a high-temperature polymer like Kalrez®. 7075, Kapton®, or Teflon® (allcommercially available from DuPont), high-temperature silicone rubber,thermal pads commercially sold by Bergquist Company of Chanhassen,Minn., a ceramic fiber reinforced alumina composite such as ZircarRS-100 (commercially available from Zircar Refractory Composites, Inc.of Florida, N.Y. 10921), ceramic tape, for example, an aluminum oxidebased ceramic tape such as those commercially available throughMcMaster-Carr Supply Company under the Catalog Nos. 390-2xM, 390-4xM and390-8xM (where the x is a 1, 2 or 3 to denote width), a ceramic fiberstrip such as commercially sold by McMaster-Carr as part number87575K89, fiberglass paper sold by McMaster-Carr as part number 9323K21,or some other material.

Moreover, depending upon the particular material used between the plateand chips, the material can be reusable for two or more cycles ofpressure application and joining or it can strictly be a one-time usematerial.

As with the pin/post variants, and shown in FIG. 249, the plate isbrought down onto the chips under pressure, thereby causing thedeformable material to conform to the chips while constraining themagainst lateral movement by surrounding the chips at their periphery.The joining process then proceeds as with the pin/post based tooling.

Alternatively, and advantageously, this arrangement can also be usedalong with pin/post based tooling if the particular application rendersit less desirable to apply the force to the pins/posts via the frame. Insuch an arrangement, the pin based tooling is applied as above. However,if the pins/posts are all of equal height, once brought into contactwith the chips, the ends of the pins/posts will reflect the same heightdifferentials as the chips. However, by using the plate and materialarrangement on the ends of the pin/posts opposite the chips, the heightdifferential can be accommodated and the appropriate force easily anduniformly applied. Moreover, through this approach, the particularmaterial will likely be sufficiently removed physically from the chipsthat it need not be a temperature resistant as those materials that mustbe brought into direct contact with the chips.

Another alternative approach to maintaining the chips in contact withthe element(s) to which they will be joined, that is similar to theplate variant of FIG. 248 and FIG. 249 is shown in FIG. 250 through FIG.254 and involves tooling made up of a body 25000 that is formed bycoating a relatively thin, but rigid, material 25002 with anotherhardenable material 25004, which preferably can be deposited in liquidusor gel form (for example, an epoxy) and hardened later.

This body 25000 is then placed on the array of chips 24906 so that thehardenable material 25004 adheres to each while being maintained in alevel position (FIG. 251). The hardenable material is then hardened sothat the entire body becomes rigid. (alternatively, the rigid part ofthe fuse body could be a flexible, conforming material as long as thesubsequent hardenable material is then kept thick enough so that when ithardens, the entire body (i.e. body and hardenable material) behaveslike a rigid body).

Once hardened, the chips can be moved to the element to which they willbe attached, and the body can be weighted with a separate and removableweight, if necessary, during the attachment process (if needed) (FIG.252). Moreover, because the hardenable material is attached to each chipand hardened, the attached chips cannot move in any direction (eitherlaterally, vertically, or in tilt (pitch and yaw)) with respect to eachother except as through movement of the overall body itself. As aresult, if the overall body is maintained in a level position during theattachment process, the chips will be maintained in a similarorientation.

Optionally, an underfill 25302 material can be flowed in between thebody and the element to which the chips will be attached (FIG. 253).This underfill 25302 can be used to fill in any gaps between the chipsand the element to which they will be attached. Moreover, because thearea between the chips and the body is enclosed, the underfill 25302 canbe flowed in a controllable manner (i.e. without it running intoundesirable places).

Once joined, and after removing the weight if a weight was used orapplying the underfill (if done), the entire (or a large portion of the)body can be removed (FIG. 254) by any appropriate process that will notdamage the chips, for example, a chemical process, by lapping orpolishing the wafer down or a chemical-mechanical process (CMP). Byremoving the body, the entire chip assembly would then be available tohave a new layer of chips attached as if they are now the underlyingelement.

Similarly, this “body” approach can be used in conjunction with apin/post based tooling to account for differences in pin/post heightsand allow for application of the force through other than directapplication to the frame. In such a case, the pins/posts are broughtinto contact with the chips, the body is then brought into contact withthe ends of the pins/posts opposite the chips and hardened. Thereafterthe force is applied as above in the desired process. Once the chips areattached, the pin/post-frame-overall body combination can be readilyremoved from the chips as with the normal pin/post approaches.Thereafter, the overall body can be separated from the pin/post-frametooling through any convenient process that would soften or remove thehardenable material or by simply cutting or shearing off the pins at apoint outside the hardenable material.

Moreover, a further advantage to this particular combination approach isthat it allows for repeatability in cases where an assembly-lineapproach to joining a multiple chips to one or more respectiveunderlying elements and, as noted above with respect to certainvariants, use as part of a pick-and-place approach.

Finally, with respect to all of the above tooling as well as othervariants, permutations or combinations thereof, it should be noted that,if required for a particular use, a gas, like forming gas or formic acidor a flux can be flowed in between the frame and the chip during thefuse portion of the process.

Note that, in some cases, the pin/post approach will be preferable touse of some flexible or spongy materials (i.e. those which couldthemselves apply too much lateral pressure on the chips, causing them totilt or to shift during the fuse process, or could require extremely(and commercially impractical) tight tolerances with respect to the fuseprocess conditions)).

In summary reiteration, although the invention has been described inconnection with particular types of chips including optical chips (i.e.ones carrying, for example, one or more lasers, one or morephotodetectors, or some combination thereof) however, the approachesdescribed herein can be used equally well to create “through-chip”electrical connections in any kind of doped semiconductor chipcomprising transistors or other electronic circuit components inaddition to, or instead of, optical components.

Similarly, although certain materials have been identified as suitablefor use as “post and penetration” contact materials, those materialsshould not be considered literally the only materials that can be used,since the important aspect is the relative hardness between the two suchthat diffusion between the two occurs to form the connection, not theparticular materials used. Since the particular pairings of materialswill, to some extent, be determined by factors such as availability,cost, compatibility with the other components being used or othermanufacturing-related processes that are unrelated to those describedherein, it is unhelpful to itemize more than a few of the potentiallylimitless pairs of materials. Similarly, there are a number of opticallytransmissive materials beyond optical epoxies. However, the criteria forselection of the particular material that would be used for a particularapplication may be affected or governed by other factors not pertinentto the subject matter herein. Accordingly, it should be understood thatany optically transmissive medium (or media) that could be inserted intothe void and transmit laser light as required for the particularapplication should be considered as being a suitably usable materialwithout specific itemization of all possible alternatives thereof.

It should thus be understood that this description (including thefigures) is only representative of some illustrative embodiments. Forthe convenience of the reader, the above description has focused on arepresentative sample of all possible embodiments, a sample that teachesthe principles of the invention. The description has not attempted toexhaustively enumerate all possible variations. That alternateembodiments may not have been presented for a specific portion of theinvention, or that further undescribed alternate embodiments may beavailable for a portion, is not to be considered a disclaimer of thosealternate embodiments. One of ordinary skill will appreciate that manyof those undescribed embodiments incorporate the same principles of theinvention and others are equivalent.

1. A method comprising: adjusting positions of a plurality of posts relative to a frame; conforming at least some of the plurality of posts to different heights thereby contact multiple chips; constraining the plurality of posts with the frame; and applying a substantially uniform force to the multiple chips through the plurality of posts to bring bonding surfaces of the multiple chips into contact with a bonding surface of an element.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of posts individually engage the multiple chips so that no two posts engage a common chip at the same time.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of posts has a face configured to engage at least a portion of one of the multiple chips, and wherein at least some of the plurality of posts have a circular cross-section near their respective faces.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of posts each have a substantially planar face configured to contact one of the multiple chips.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said applying a substantially uniform force to the multiple chips comprises applying the substantially uniform force to the frame such that the substantially uniform force is transferred to the multiple chips via the frame and the constrained plurality of posts.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a vacuum to a corresponding chip through at least one of the plurality of posts.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one of the plurality of posts has a passageway for applying the vacuum to the corresponding chip.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein a subset of the plurality of posts is configured to collectively engage a surface of one of the multiple chips.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the subset of the plurality of posts is further configured to substantially enclose an end portion of the one of the multiple chips.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the subset of the plurality of posts, when constrained, is configured to constrain a lateral motion of the one of the multiple chips.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the frame is substantially orthogonal to the plurality of posts, and wherein the plurality of posts are configured to pass through the frame.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising passing at least some of the plurality of posts through the frame along an axis that is substantially orthogonal to the frame.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising tilting at least some of the plurality of posts away from the axis.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple chips have different heights,
 15. A method comprising: adjusting positions of a plurality of posts relative to a frame, wherein the plurality of posts are configured to pass through the frame along an axis that is substantially orthogonal to the frame; conforming the plurality of posts to different heights to thereby contact multiple chips, wherein said conforming includes tilting at least some of the plurality of posts away from the axis; constraining the plurality of posts with the frame; and applying a substantially uniform force to the multiple chips to bring bonding surfaces of the multiple chips into contact with a bonding surface of an element.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of posts individually engage the multiple chips SO that no two posts engage a common chip at the same time.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of posts has a face configured to engage at least a portion of one of the multiple chips, and wherein at least some of the plurality of posts have a circular cross-section near their respective faces.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of posts each have a substantially planar face configured to contact one of the multiple chips.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein said applying a substantially uniform force to the multiple chips comprises applying the substantially uniform force to the frame such that the substantially uniform force is transferred to the multiple chips via the frame and the constrained plurality of posts.
 20. The method of claim 15, further comprising applying a vacuum to a corresponding chip through at least one of the plurality of posts.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one of the plurality of posts has a passageway for applying the vacuum to the corresponding chip.
 22. The method of claim 15, wherein a subset of the plurality of posts is configured to collectively engage a surface of one of the multiple chips.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the subset of the plurality of posts is further configured to substantially enclose an end portion of the one of the multiple chips.
 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising constraining a lateral motion of the one of the multiple chips via the subset of the plurality of posts that enclose the end portion of the one of the multiple chips.
 25. The method of claim 15, wherein the multiple chips have different heights.
 26. A method comprising: adjusting positions of one or more first posts and one or more second posts relative to a frame; conforming the one or more first posts to a first chip having a first height; conforming the one or more second posts to a second chip having a second height; constraining the one or more first posts and the one or more second posts with the frame; and applying a substantially uniform force to the first and second chips via the one or more first posts and the one or more second posts to bring bonding surfaces of the first and second chips into contact with a bonding surface of an element.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein said applying a substantially uniform force comprises applying the substantially uniform force to the frame such that the substantially uniform force is transferred to the first and second chips via the frame and the one or more first posts and the one or more second posts.
 28. The method of claim 26, wherein the one or more first posts comprise two or more first posts configured to collectively engage a surface of the first chip.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the two or more first posts are further configured to substantially enclose an end portion of the first chip.
 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising constraining a lateral motion of the first chip via the two or more first posts that enclose the end portion of the first chip.
 31. The method of claim 26, wherein the frame is substantially orthogonal to the one or more first posts, and wherein the one or more first posts are configured to pass through the frame.
 32. The method of claim 31, further comprising passing at least some of the one or more first posts through the frame along an axis that is substantially orthogonal to the frame.
 33. The method of claim 32, further comprising tilting at least some of the one or more first posts away from the axis.
 34. The method of claim 26, wherein a perimeter of the first chip is configured to contact a corresponding post of the one or more first posts and define a first area, wherein a perimeter of the corresponding post comprises a corresponding face that defines a second area, and wherein the second area is at least as large as the first area. 